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Beethoven's Klavermater,
from which this edition has
been translated, was first
published in 1923 by the
Gyldendalske Boghandel
in Copenhagen,
 MCMXXVJI
LONDON & TORONTO
J. M. DENT & SONS LTD.
NEW YORK: K. IK DUTTON & CO.
7 U>.'// All rights merwd*

D4I tb

With grateful acknowledgments

to the trustees of the Rask**Orsted
Fund, Copenhagen.

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN.

 1

INTRODUCTION
Biu.tkovkn’s SoNA'i'A.s have been for nearly half a
century t he subject of a whole series of critical editions*
ami technical commentaries of the greatest interest,
but of which the incontestable merits are counter¬
balanced by a tiresome defect. This is that they
have quite certainly altered, not, perhaps, the musical
significance of these incomparable piano poems, but
at leant: the state of emotional receptivity in which one
ought to approach them. The nuances have been
imlit alesl, the liugning marked, the pauses timed, the
ties examined, tfie accents explained - and, perhaps,
the irue spirit has been neglected.
Analysis has been applied to everything, except’ to
that which gave to these great masterpieces the
t harm ter of an immortal confession ; the confession of
a melancholy and lonely being, who all his life long, -
from fhildhood (ill the day of his death, or near it
confided daily to his instrument his most secret
meditations, the bitterness of his torments, his revolts,
his unattainable hopes; the confession of a soul who,
in Liszt's phrase, u avail mat k I'humanitL" That
mighty urge of love or indignation which gave wings to
his sublime thought, which alone ordered his flight
and limited his horizon, we have sometimes been
v
-vrr
VI INTRODUCTION

tempted to forget, under the weight of so much

contradictory guidance and so many theoretical
explanations.
This remarkable work by William Behrend comes
at the right moment in the centenary year when we
piously endeavour to revive in our own imagination
the true mind of the musician “ trained in the school
of misfortune.”
While it remains entirely personal, it is not without
analogy to the generous essay by Lenz on Beethoven
and his three styles; and, like that work, it sets out
to interpret the reasons for Beethoven’s inspiration
rather than the necessities of form, the beauty of his
music rather than the difficulties of the instrument.
Certainly a work of this kind can only be based on
hypothesis, and when it concerns “Beethoven, who said
—at least if Schindler is to be believed—“ They ”
(meaning us, the public, the musicians, the virtuosi)
“ would be terrified if they knew what I am thinking
when I compose ”—then hypothesis can carry us far.
Be that as it may, the point cannot be over-emphasised
that of all the interpretations suggested by the reading
of William Behrend’s book, there is not a single one
which does not tend to the noblest conception.
Further, the author, wherever possible, supports his
theories by the most carefully chosen and convincing
documentary evidence. And rediscovering the man
behind the work, he makes it possible for us to dream
the work anew beyond the man thus revealed. This is
what true interpretation means.
 I,mm f i* || g i Ma | f f>* f f'% %lW
Jb JR \wr sfcr %s# A m \J A1** tM

Thunks jut due to WUIistm Behrend for pulling us

up ho sharply -for restoring to the living work its
pathetic power, its compelling savour. Kvcn if one
does riot always share hid feeling (and particularly
in what concerns wmaf»H 81, no, and nt, we ought
never to forget the, eloquent and searching common-
tarieti of a d’lndy or a Taine), we can nevertheless
follow him confidently. By safe roads he leads us
to meet the great, the true, the only Beethoven.
Au-aitn Cortot.

Paris % January 19^7#

 I>KKFA(’K TO 'mi*:
FIRST DANISH EDITION

Tiii i book nwri iln oripin to a tonne of lectures whit It

1 pave a few yean itf'ti at tilt* Royal Ihudnh Comrrvatoirr
tit Mtpiit, t»t< tit** pteatet numbn nl Beethoven's Bonatait for
piano (up to npiri Hi), 'Hit* In tutr*i were intruded to hr a
kind ol hiitorit al, bioqraphit ;d ami joy* ludopu «I supplement to
llu*pittt ii< al U*.tt hint* of the sonatas; thi'imipin pivot'toillftllillp
t»l tiir point of view ttf the bunk, I ttmk up tin* took apaitt
Jam, 111 put I pot ily by th** need <*f briopinp tin* t nunideiutiou
of ihu '.011.11.4 . to 4 • !■>;»• ; p4ttly by thf <l*-:ii«- to ptodut e
nut It 4 woik jtuit when 4 toil toy had elapsed nimr tin* pidilha
lion of ihr* last Bert hoyen sonata for pi4iio. My elloim writ*
tli**ti dim toil,in rftirndinpandrlabnrathip tin* tnatriiahtowatds
prndut inp 4 hook lot ** Kvrtyman," whit li totiltl ht* trail by
every lovn of tomii<, by everyone who h a prtfnmirt, or who
bran Brrthuven'-i '.ou.tra-, performed in thr rumen room or
at home, or who in in any way alt rat ml by bin niti'iie and bin
personality a book whh h < nuld be trad wit hout much previous
knowlrdpr of tin* subject, not tmly lot thr sake of learnitip
but for that of entertainment. In the introductory thaptrr
I have tried to rommunit atr to the reader thr more particular
objrt t of t hr bonk. I will only add that if it hart partly hrromr
a Beethoven biography in riiitr, thin in not quite beyond my
X PREFACE
intention, and I shall regret it the less if it can lead the reader
on to a closer study of the great biographies, tins collections of
letters and the like, concerning this remarkable genius and
artist.
W. B.
 ItnVHN (/ . IMn

(/•'mm ft mumttinr hv ( hnshan ilornmtnit,)

 urkpace to thk
SECOND DANISH EDITION
Ann r barely loin months It was already neressary to pre¬
pare a new edition of the present book. It wan in the main
only a question ol reprinting yet no that certain desirable or
ne< eoary improvements were <anied out, and it seemed to me
that I might I eel just died in rent riel ing myself to thin with all,
the better reason because of the reception accorded to my hook
in reviews, several of which were written over the bent names
in out mini* al world* and whieh did not, contain objections or
re< ommendattons of any importance.
As etc f oa« httjefi t s on the t.es t or additions to it have I bus
be^n avoided* I may perhaps venture to make two remarks here
whit h would or Inn wise belong to Chapters VI and XVII of the
book, (‘oreeminp Opus v//t No* II (C sharp minor)* Falwin
Fis* her has drawn my attention to a rrsemblauer between the
beginningof the Adagio and a famous passage in the first:act of
Mo/.af t% thm tlinvmtni (aftei the murder of the Commandant)*
and pointed nut that Beethoven himself had copied out this
twmyr. I have not been aide to obtain further knowledge on.
this matte?* but thereian hardly beany doubt about theimpretw
iiion made on Beethoven by that Inspired passage, He may,
thetelore, have been influenced* but, this need not imply any
imitation or initial resemblance. (Concerning the latter, see
further p, qa and the matter dealt with there.) With, regard
to Opus t to (A flat), I have been struck by a certain resem-
hlanw* between the Fugue in the Finale and a Fugue by A.
St arlat ti ((* minor F major) edited by Louis Kabler (amongst:
xi
xii PREFACE
others) in Les Maitres iu Clavecin, Vol. II, LiiolfFo edition.
Although Scarlatti’s music for piano must for many reasons In-
supposed to have been well known to Beethoven, I did not
venture to make any observations about a resemblance which
is more concerned with character and attitude in general than
with ostensible melodic or other identities which might also
be accidental. After my book had been issued, however, I
received from Professor Dr. Buhl an inquiry as to whether I.
had not noticed the resemblance between the two fugues.
It seems to me, then, that I ought to point it out here, since it
does not depend on an individual opinion, and so much the
more, as it seems at any rate to strengthen the remark on
p. 182, that it is more likely to have been the fugue-works
of Handel (under Italian influence) that were present to
Beethoven’s mind.

April 1924.
w. b.
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NANrnt, k 155
DokOTIIt'A VON I'-K'l MANN

Antonik Hhmiiano

BkMIIOVI'N (/, 1H/.3) . . . • > • •

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 “ Les sonates de Beethoven sont peut-etre plus
interessantes que des compositions d’un genre
techniquement superieur, en ce sens qu’elles nous
offrent un document psychologique de premier
ordre.”—Co m barieu.
 IfliUTllOVKN’S
HANOI'ORTH SONATAS

CIIAd'Klt I

Tint W ohllrmperiertes Clavier of Johann Sebastian Bach and

thfSon/ihu for Piano oi Imdwip van Beethoven have been called
tlx* Old and New 'IVtilameni. of the piano, and it haa been naid
that thnn;;h all mimic were to peri'ib and only iheae two work:)
to survive, a fadlb ient knowledge ol tin- muriin of the eighteenth
and nineteenth (entnrie’! could be obtained from them alone.
Student,»i in a di'ilaut future will always be able to /fain from
ihem a clear perception of the trnmhal idea;) and ttiode'i of
expression of t he pet iod'i to whit It ea< h ol them lielotijyi. I bene
two workfi reveal the joandenr ol the two ininda from which
they ripranc, and testify to the tharacier of the peniiei that
in',piled them. They riand aide by aide an tin* typer ol an
older atid newer ape, an the representatives of two periodn of art.
Ol bet wine tbe con l rant between the two workfi in at once
evident. Hacb’tt double ttetiea of prehtden and fupue.n, however
< leaily bearing the Matnp of ;;eniu:i in llieir variety and wealth
of invention, nhow in tbe main one common physiognomy,
the expression of whhb varied within certain limit;). It i;i a
well known fact that tbe Wtihltnnju'rirrUs Clavier appeared
in two volume.'i at an interval of twenty yearn, yet each of the
two volumes wan -or miyjht well have been- '-written in one
continumtfi series within a comparatively abort space of time.
Beethoven’s sonatas, on the other hand, extend over the whole
it
 2 BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS
of his life, from his boyhood to the last years of his manhood*
They bear the impress of this. In their purely exterior form
they differ widely. If Bach in his Wohl temp entries Clavur
reached two high-water marks in his compositions for the
piano, Beethoven in his sonatas gives an account of his whole
life in its changing phases. It is the life of a genius, and
therefore beyond our horizon, yet it is so humanly near our
understanding that we can contemplate with sympathy its
development and varying destiny. We can, as it were, follow
the life of the Master through his sonatas, sometimes almost
from one sonata to another; and as no two of them are alike,
either in form or in theme, this is all the more easily done.
A Beethoven sonata, then, is not only a beautiful and artistic
piece of music, a source of enjoyment to those who listen to it,
and an education to those who perform it; it is, with few
exceptions, an independent and individual revelation of the
composer’s genius, giving an insight into his spiritual life and
* his experiences.^ In the piano sonatas, especially, one is
justified in looking for instances of these intimate self-revela-
* tions, as the piano was his favourite instrument, the only one
that he mastered to perfection and to which he confided his
deepest secrets^ If we consider the violin sonatas, for instance,
^ which in their outward construction differ very little from
those written for the piano, they seem to us, taking them
%% altogether, not quite so tenderly self-revealing as the latter.
However refined they are as works of art, however beautif ul
and rich in expression are sonatas like that dedicated to
Kreutzer and the two in G major—to mention outstanding
examples—they seem, more than the greater number of the
piano sonatas, to Indicate a “ social ” purpose, that is, that
they had been composed for the entertainment of an audience
gathered together with that object in view. The piano as a
solo instrument is the Master’s medium of expression in his
solitude, though in varying degrees, throughout the series of
 THK PIANO SONATAS OP BEKTHOVKN 3

sonatas, In them Ik* plays to m in such a way that often, in

quint consecrated moments, wo seem to come very clone to his
heart and to enjoy hk confidence, without having our thoughts
diverted to other objects. Nor can it lie a mere, act ident that
the series of violin sonatas ceases at Opus <)6, at a time when
Beethoven, then about forty years old, had not withdrawn
from the world, hut fell attracted by it, and hound to it hy
the social ties of friends and benefactors; whereas the piano
tionatan ate (ontinued up to Opus n r, that: is to nay, far further
into Ids years of loneliness, in fact till close up to the time of his
death.
It in only natural, on the other land, that this intimate
spirit is not found in the piano concertos in the same degree as
in the sonatas. The concerto® were written for the greater
world, the world that visits concert-rooms, or, as they were
called in those days, “ the Academies.” The demand for
executive brilliance is strongly emphasised, yet In a noble
sense; external splendour is a conscious object: of the music in
another way and in a higher degree than in the sonatas; the
voice of the orchestra tends to produce greater realism than
when the piano is speaking alone; the frequently larger plan
and more accessible and open construction lead away from the
intimate ami the freer play of tone in the sonatas.
Now if wc consider this long series of piano sonatas an a
deeply felt and spontaneous utterance of Beethoven’s per¬
sonality during the changing conditions of his life, we shall
find that they possess a deeper significance and interest, both
individually and as a whole. It is not mainly because one
sonata is more “ difficult ” than another that it occupies
its particular place in the series. It is because the composer
was otic man when he wrote, for instance, the Waldstein ”
sonata, and another, both in a spiritual and in a musically
technical sense—an a composer and a pianist—when he wrote
the so-called “ PatluStique.” Nor could he possibly have written
4 BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS
the great “ Hammerklavier ” sonata before that which is
known as the 4C Moonlight” sonata. When all this becomes
clear to us, the sonatas will be filled with deeper meanings
be of more value than if we contemplate any individual sonata
merely according to its importance as a masterpiece for the
piano.
Meanwhile our present object is not that of studying the
sonatas from the last-mentioned point of view. That would
lead us beyond the scope of this book and into that of text¬
books on theory and analysis. Our purpose is rather to dwell
on that with which practical teaching is but slightly concerned,
the human, personal element in Beethoven’s sonatas—thus,
to which part of his life each sonata belongs, under what
conditions it came into being, what connection it may have
had with events in his life and the like; what can be traced
through dedications and by other means about the value and
importance of the sonata to the composer; and further, what
we can learn in various ways through the sonata about the
interior life of the Master, the decisive events in his life, his
character, his artistic ideals, and so forth. In the end the
sonatas themselves will reveal all this to us, and in the following
pages we shall mainly be engaged in studying their themes*
But in order to throw as strong and vivid a light as possible
on this music, we will try to gather together the material from
which we can arrive at a clearer understanding of the com¬
poser and his work. To many modern students of the piano
Beethoven is perhaps only a composer who has written these
often very “ difficult ” sonatas, and the only thing to be done
with them is to practise them again and again. It is hoped
that in these pages the composer of the sonatas may become,
both to the performer and the listener, a living man, greater,
grander than his fellows, one who has felt, thought, dreamed,
fought and suffered more than we, who has, in fact, ec suffered
for us.” It is by no means a bad method, when studying a
 THE PIANO SONATAS OF BEETHOVEN 5
work of art, whether it be a poem, a drama, a picture or a piece
of muse, to tty to pen rive and understand the personality
iif dm mao standing behind it; as itn creator, In any ease one
in <ejtaln of deriving pi oat profit from 11* in mm hod*
######
Beethoven vviote his fust piano sonata when he watt about
twelve yearn old* lie wrote hut heit when he was fifty*4wo,
live yearn before, he, died. We can, therefore, follow liim in
tin* sonatas through forty yearn of bln life, atul realise with
Walter Niemann, in bin Klamrrbwh, that “The development
of Beethoven1;) piano music, its gradual change;) and the com-
pemcr’fleuergetie attempts to find new forms, can be fully
understood only by those who continually try to trace the
intimate to operation between tlit; artist anti the man,’*
 CHAPTER II

Ludwig van Beethoven was born In Bonn in 1770, and, as

everyone knows, lie was destined from his childhood by a

drunken and somewhat brutal father to be an infant prodigy,
after the pattern furnished not many years earlier by the
brilliant career of Wolfgang Mozart; but unfortunately Beet¬
hoven’s father was not a Leopold Mozart, either as a man or a
musician. He can hardly have understood, like the latter, the
rare gifts of his son, and In any case he was incapable of develop¬
ing them, or of educating the boy, and humanly speaking
giving him a serious training and a proper understanding of
his future.* It was, in fact, a rather rough school in which this
boy was taught by his father and Thomas Pfeiffer, his
father’s boon companion. Nevertheless, the boy at an early
age attained to fluency in playing the piano and to composing
small pieces for his instrument. He created a stir In Bonn,
this being further aided by the efforts of his father in persistent
and not always honest advertisement.
He was not put under artistic care and training until he was
twelve years old, when Christian Gottlieb Neefe became his
teacher. This physically deformed musician was a gifted
composer and aesthete, also a writer, and probably for the first
time his young pupil received a deeper insight into music as
an art. In after years Beethoven acknowledged Neefe’s influence
on his development, and this not merely as regards technique
and theory. Moreover, Neefe was a modern musician in his
day; he followed in the footsteps of Philip Emmanuel Bach,
* In Derjunge Beethoven Professor L. Schiedermair has made a well-meant attempt
at softening the portrait of Beethoven’s father, yet without essentially altering it,
6
/
 CHILDHOOD 7
with those who hail emancipated themselves from the strict
polyphonic style oi earlier t imes; who aimed at a freer, more
deiiuite and more deeply felt form of musical expression,
and were in favour with the art patrons of the (lay, the
“ Liehhaher,” as they were called. But Neefe had been trained
in tin- serious minded Not ih Herman sc hool, and it, was perhaps
not a<’< idcntal though it may have been ehieily for eduea ■
tionai reasons that he made his pupil practise Sebastian Bach’s
IVohlimprrirrtes Clavier so diligently that even when he wan
quite young he could play many of these preludes and fugues
by heart, later on, when he came to Vienna in 179a, he had
to play such pieces as these to one of his aristocratic patrons,
t headed Baron von &wioteri,asasortof “ Evening Benediction.”
This would most likely he when the leas intimate guests had
left, while the more cultivated " connoisseurs,” worshippers of
good, old music, stayed behind and needed serious evening
devotions after the more or less empty virtuoso music to which
they had listened in the course of the evening. For the ears
of Viennese society were pleasantly tickled by what would now
he called "duwing room” musie, which had caused such
iiillammatinn in them that: for a long time they could not
appie< i»te the overwhelming dilferertee between this music
and that ptodueed by the young Beethoven.
Yet we should perhaps scarcely he right in saying that
Beethoven’s attitude to Sebastian Bach’s music at this time was
particularly sympathetic or appreciative. He was undoubtedly
deeply impressed by its infinite wealth and invention in a
musically technical sense, hut apart from this he was drawn in
another direction. This Bach music, which had originally
been taught him in the form of exercises, must have been in his
mind when later on (in Vienna) he speaks of " the old forms
handed down, to which it must be our object at the present
day to add a really poetic element.” At Bonn the young
musician would also come into contact with other movements
8 BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS
of the day which attracted general attention. One of these
was the music of the so-called “ Mannheim school/3 which
had a following in Bonn. Here his highly gifted and watchful
spirit heard an interpretation that again was far removed from
that of Sebastian Bach, a brisk, piquant, one might almost say
dashing, mode of playing with a varied accentuation. It was
Influenced by the Italian school and by the southern tempera¬
ment—in contrast to the drier and more scholarly music
language of North Germany—and found expression in a
vivacious orchestra with shadings and dynamic effects hitherto
unknown—at any rate as a principle. In these and the singing
allegro there was an endeavour to make the new sonata form a
supple, impassioned means of expression for two themes of
contrasting ideas and moods, in orchestral and chamber music,
such as it was in the hands of Philip Emmanuel Bach at the
piano. Thus the heralding of what Haydn and Mozart were
soon to develop and enrich, and raise to a higher spiritual sphere,
was heard by Beethoven in his childhood at Bonn. Hugo
Riemann, in particular, has pointed out evidence of his
Mannheim sympathies in his older works, but whether or
not his tutor, Neefe, guided by his own sterner training,
warned his pupil against these tendencies, can hardly now be
ascertained. There can be no doubt, however, that his
growing genius was considerably influenced by a variety of
tendencies In music.
Like all musical minds in the last decades of the eighteenth
century, Beethoven would also be captivated by that new
form, the sonata. It was discovered that here was a new means
of creating musical pieces of a strangely life-like character, of
richly varied themes and great perspicuity; they were, in
fact, small but entire musical organisms.
The oft-quoted exclamation of the poet and aesthete,
Fontenelle : “ Sonate, que me veux-tu ? ” was probably in
the first instance a question directed to a form of music that
 <‘HI MUIOOI) f
wpokr to ifi list men naked, not dollied in wordfff in contrast
tooprufh fund* ; but It abo totiUiuft 4 Imitating feat in the
pinrncr of something new that law If mud ripmidon in wumiV.
They did not quite umtrr'd^ml it m yet, but Imitmrtivdy it
w»n frit to be the dawn of 4 Fugniilh 4fit mode of eiqtrcfs?jlngt hy
means of Ifill-iH 4I 0#Hind i, tin* V4iy»Ug WUnihl and fedlUgl of
I hr Inifinm soul, hi tiulity they were famf hy 4 gmu gain
to mush, our who li was to rthovv itself possessed of imlfidriU
vital |i\vrt in nnlufr thiough gemmitions down to our
own lino**
Tii^ youthful Beethoven m urn have followed wit It tense
iutetenf thr immense pt ogress made hy the tiomtta in the hands
of Ml0/41 i »tnd n*tydn, urn! if has horn proved from history and
style how these two composed noon beuitne models for hit*
own prod to 1 inin* At thin distance of time it in hardly pom
ruble to nay thdinifrly when hin powers began to stir in him
and urge him to indrprmhmt creative work, not; produced in
nlff-dirmr <0 mdms l|i.iu hin fallen ; whrthrr hr frit that hr
wan to hr the nto t rssor of thr Vienna masters and to carry on
t hr it work. There h no dim t pioof of thin* but that music-
loving no h n in Bonn took thin view of flic young musician
in shown hy thr it sending him to Vienna to learn of them two
iminfrni though with no great result m regard# Mo/,art. It ti
shown at ill more emphatically in thr oft quoted, gravely
woo led Hum on an album leaf, writ Ini hy Count Ferdinand
von Waldsidn, one of Brrilmvenb most eager and able mqw
porters of the Bonn period : u Von are now going to Vienna
in fulfilment of your long dterished drain*. Mo/artb genius
i's at III momniug over thr death of her favourite. She hat)
taken refuge with the inexhaustible I laydn, but haft not
found onupaliom If you labour with unwearying dill-
genre you will ret rive the spirit of Mozart at the hands of
IbtydnT
######
10 BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS
The first sonatas,* published in Bonn (1783), bear the title ;
“ Three sonatas for piano, dedicated to The Most Reverend
The Archbishop and Elector-Prince Maximilian Friedrich, my
most gracious master, and composed by Ludwig van Beethoven,
11 years of age.” The last item was one of his father’s adver¬
tising tricks, as Ludwig was then actually thirteen years old 1
The world likes being cheated, and the taste for infant prodigies
(in all branches of music) seems never to change !
The book is provided with a fulsome preface addressed to
the Archbishop, in which the following lines occur : “ From xny
fourth year music began to be my chief occupation. . . * 1
have now already reached my eleventh (?) year, and since then
the muse has often whispered to me in moments of initiation 2
4 Attempt it, write down the harmonies of thy soul! ’ Eleven
years, I thought, how will the author’s mien suit me ? And
what will men in the world of art say to this ? I was almost
on the point of being afraid. Yet—at the bidding of my muse- «
I obeyed, and wrote.”
This monstrous piece of affectation—which must, of course,
be regarded in the light of the manners of the timc~wafl
fortunately not written by Beethoven himself; it is believed
to be the work of the “ literary ” Neefe, The Ludwig who had
composed the sonatas was a little, dark-skinned, pock-marked
fellow, with large, brilliant eyes, but with a shy and reserved
manner; he sometimes looked untidy and not very clean; he
could be abrupt and obstinate, and embittered in mind at the
circumstances prevailing at home, which made him both
awkward and lonely. He would hardly have written a preface
like that quoted above, nor perhaps would he have understood
how to fawn like this upon the exalted prince. The publica¬
tion of the sonatas perhaps earned for him a slight honour and

* They are easily accessible in LitolfPs edition of Beethoven^ sonatas, in which they
are printed as a supplement to the generally known sonatas furnished with ojmi
numbers. 4
 •rtUWK HONATAH FOR PIANO it

•* badly needed income; perhaps they also -owing to the

pompous preface 'procured him an advancement:. At: any
rate the hoy became a “ Court musician ” the year after, and
we can imagine him dressed in a smart uniform, nay, even
wearing a bag-wig,
The sonatas, which were also offered for sale an “ an excellent
((imposition by a y/niut of Arum years ■ it is no wonder that
Beethoven later on in lift; was sometimes bewildered about:
Ids age! are, of course, only of historical interest', hut this
they do possess, in the F minor sonata, for instance, indica¬
tions can be pointed out of something “ Becthovenencjue ” in
the form (as in the “ I’athtkujue ” sonata with the introductory
and reclining Car/;o) and in the choice of key, even though it is
difficult: to agree with Paul Bekkcr, who contends that here is a
forerunner of the ** Appassionato ” sonata itself! But this
1*' minor was, and continued to be, the key to which Beethoven
had recourse when he had something obscure and passionate to
express; consciously or unconsciously, then, he chose it; here,
where his child’s mind was burdened by something, or where
bis boyish defiance was to be expressed in sound. In the
I) major sonata an idea suddenly surges up, very like, that which
many years after (iff 12) adorns the introduction to the A major
symphony. When one knows how Beethoven later on in life
earried his ideas in Ids mind for yearn, to bring them out, now
for this, now for that, treatment, one cannot venture in this
instance to speak of a mere chance. Several characteristic
passages that now give the impression of a perspective can he
pointed out in these childhood sonatas, and more than one
phrase in them, more than one melodic idea or pregnant; rhythm
testify to a depth of feeling and a sense of music that must be
called rare even in an unusually advanced and gifted child of
thirteen. In one particular sonata movement (G major) one
has a feeling that Neefe, the song composer, was the boy’s
tutor.
12 BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS

There is a small sonata from the Bonn period which for

a particular reason deserves closer consideration, although ii wan
not even completed by Beethoven himself (Ferdinand Rios
added the conclusion), not exactly for the sake of the trueiiV,
but because of its connection with the name of a family of great
influence on the life of Beethoven. The sonata waa intended
for Eleonore von Brcuning. The house of the widowed Frau
von Breuning was one of the wealthy and refined homos in
Bonn, and Ludwig van Beethoven was introduced into it. as a
teacher to the children. He grew so much at home in it that
he sometimes spent whole days and nights there, probably
when the state of affairs in Rheingasse 934—lu's own home
was particularly unedifying. In this household the young
genius learned refined manners and a cultivated form of inter >
course; here more than anywhere else his oddities were under¬
stood, and were tolerated because of the spiritual greatness
he was felt to possess, when he was in one of his “ tantrumii ”
(“ Raptus ”), as they said amongst themselves. He became u
friend of the sons of the house; with one of them, Stephan, the
friendship was lifelong, for he also went to Vienna soon after-
Stephan’s son Gerhard wrote the book, Aus dem Schwarz,panirr-
haus, which contains a valuable description of Beethoven ’;i
latter years. Moreover, Beethoven was probably not; a little
enamoured of the dainty and charming Eleonore. We have
also other evidence that at this time, about his twentieth year,
Beethoven’s heart was disturbed by passionate Werther feelings,
and it can hardly be doubted that they were concerned wit li
Eleonore Breuning, from the emotional letter of reconciliation
that he wrote to her in 1790 (or ’91) after a passing quarrel or
disagreement. In this letter we get a glimpse for the first tin 10
of Beethoven’s rugged and independent character, which led
so easily to friction between himself and those who only desired
his happiness. Another instance can be found in a letter from
Vienna (1793) in which he still remembers his friend Eleonore
 SONATA IN C MAJOR tj

4tut *tl! tin* happy iluyri in Bonn, Some time* after, Kleouore
married Beethoven*# friend, the physician Welder, who in
collaboration with Ferdinand Rum wrote the BUfiraphical
Nutw which are of such great value* The correspondence
between Wegcler and Beethoven wan resumed no late an in
iH/,6, when Wggrhm was living In Coblenz, anti Beethoven
iiontiions that In* mill has a silhoimt l<* portrait, of u Lorchem”
'The sonata (in C niajot) is interesting, however, tint only
because it is tin* firm that Beethoven dedieated to out; of tin*,
lad ten of bin choice, hut also because, it teaches us, with its broken
< lend;;, idling triplets and sextuplets, how memories of the old
keyed instrument on wldeh he had practised an a ehild, the davlr
cymbal (or spinet, m it is more commonly called) ran in Ms
blood. ()ne must not be misled by the faet that Beethoven did
not use the term u Hammerklavier n tintil the very last sonatas.
Thin wan due to a late* and panning need of getting away from
all Italian musical terms whatsoever a point that will he dealt
with later. Meanwhile, in mentioning tlxe piano for which
Beethoven wrote* his sonatas, a musician should he remembered
to whom Beethoven owed much iu using this instrument, of
<ompaiaiively recent dale at the time. This was the Italian
Muzio (dementi (}'/$% 183a), who was not only an eminent
virtuoso cm the plant), hut also ardently interested in its practical
mamdd lure, its count ruction and technical development. Ho
was bimsel! a partner in a firm of piano manufacturers in
London. As a pianist he was famous, and on his numerous
concert tours he was usually accompanied by a troop of pupils—
several of whom later became world-renowned performers on
the piano. Clement! is at the present day best known as the
author of the Gtudus &d Pftfii&ssuin* His contemporaries
valued his .series of piano sonatas, many of which, having regard
to the time when they were written, were great in conception
and execution, and several of them were found in Beethoven’s
far from abundant collection of music# Some of dementi’s
14 BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS

sonatas, it is true, were modelled on those of Mozart and Beet >

hoven, but even amongst the earlier ones Beethoven would be
able to observe a rich and full-toned use of the piano, which
meant a decisive step beyond the piano treatment of Philip
Emmanuel Bach and Haydn. The long brilliant runs and
passages that brighten several movements of the sonatas of his
early years, the powerful, rich-toned and bold grasp of chord:),
the whole of the broad movement that became his enduring
characteristic feature, can be traced back to the study of
dementi’s sonatas. However dry and reasoned and calculated
to display the brilliance of the performer most of them may
seem to us at the present day, a few still bear witness to the
deeper feeling and inner emotion of their composer.
 < 1 lAi’TKR III
VVnu tin- it***f tin*-** Miii.it.vij the 1 iir,l lh.li he provided with
an opus number, viz, Opus z, Noil, i, 2 am! 3, we now accompany
Beethoven ftom Bonn to the Amtmit capital, Vienna was
thru, am! lor many ye am afterwards, a hrilliant elty, devoted
to art and the jdemmres of life. It has often been said that
when Beethoven, at the aye of twenty-two, migrated thither,
it wait bet mine he wan drawn to it a» the home of Mozart and
Haydn, and of no many other musicians and virtuosi whose
naineit are now forgotten, hut this can hardly have heeti the
only teu'inn, As a matter of fact there was a quite peculiar
relation he tween Bonn and Vienna, The Kleetor Maximilian
wan a binther of the Kmprror Joseph If of Aunt 1 ia, and the
nobility of Vienna and Bonn were closely related by ties of
blood and friendship. An exchange between the two cities
of young men, for the sake of studied especially of students
from Bonn who wete sent to the Austrian capital* - wan by no
means uncommon, Beethoven wan thetefore not a unique
inntarn e. Two of bin intimate friends, Wegeler and Breuning,
took the name road, the latter, like Beethoven, to stay per¬
manently in Vienna. On the other hand, Count Ferdinand
von Waldstein, whom we shall meet later on in the history of
the sonatas, took up his residence in Bonn, though he had
previously lived in Vienna and afterwards returned to Austria.
It wan <ltie mainly to hiti efforts that Beethoven now went to
Vienna, with the intention of returning to his native town after
a few years of training and study, but destiny—one is perhaps
right in saying Beethoven** good destiny-—willed otherwise.
»5
X6 BEETHOVEN'S SONATAS
In view of this constant intercourse between the mnuwmU1.
and artistic circles of Bonn and Vienna, it is nut su* prising that
Beethoven quickly and easily gained admission to the mom
refined and wealthy houses in which ait wart udtivatrd with
great interest, and in thq, salons of the nobility, c-ipr-t Lilly, thr
poor and unknown Bonn musician wan a wrhomn gurst*
Perhaps this also explains why he had nodifliculiy in obtaining
lessons from Joseph Haydn, who as a rule was very unwilling
to receive pupils. The details of Beethoven a studios aie
outside the scope of these chap tern* It is well known that as a
teacher Haydn greatly disappointed his young pupil, who
consoled himself by seeking guidance from Johannw; S< Itenk,*
a musician of much lower standing, latter he studkd murr
systematically under Albrcchtsberger and Salieri. B<*rt in wmds
choleric temperament once led him so far as to say that I laydn
u was not dealing honestly ” with him. Suspicion had already
taken root in the mind of this young artist*
It was clear to Beethoven, however, that he could leant a
great deal from the works of Haydn. They weir noi amongsi
those which excited the least; interest in the cii< ks into who h
he had gained an entrance. His admiration atid reverent r bn
Haydn’s genius was unreserved and unalterable, and his dodo a
tion of the three sonatas of Opus 2, with whit h he began bis
career, was undoubtedly a sincere expression of his feelings,
even though he could not go so far as to call himself 44 a pupil
of Haydn” on the title-page. In the dedication the famous
old master is called “ Docteur cm tnusique,” an honoiary title
conferred upon him by the University of Oxford; it was
therefore a reminder of his glorious visits to England* From
Beethoven’s point of view it would be a matter of courtesy
and there is no reason to be of Mr* Shedlock’s opinion, that it
was an ironical addition*
* Schenk’*, modest remark to Baucmfcld, that*, he had only romhlrrnl him*»rlf u>
be a tool, which had been used in the theoretical training of thr future* muw Titan,
deserves to be remembered.
 OPUS 2, NOS. if % AND 3 17

The publishers, it) their announcement of the sonatas, say

that 44 they show not only the* power powitwd hy 1 I err van
Beethoven an a pianiat, hut ulnr> the delicacy with which he
known how to handle hiu innfrtunoil.” Thin in an indication
that Beethoven wan at thin time ehkdly regarded an a piano
vi ft uotio.
The nona(an were published in 1796, hut we can nee from a
Viennese mmieal paper that: they had been known for aome
lime. Beethoven had played them himnelf in the salons,
and hand-written, eopiei;, after the manner of the clay, no
doubt circulated amount bin friendn and admirers. Probably
Beethoven ft rat. [dayed bin Opun 2 at tbe bonne of Prince
I behnownky, when* bin Opun r (the trion) wan alno played for tbe
brnt time, and where J laydn wan alno frequently a giuait:.
In considering the composer of (bene early non a tan, then, we
munt keep in mind tbe pianint: who in a dbringimhed and
honoured gueril in the salons of Viennese society, That: in the
background of thin music, which, in no far an it wan compound
in Vienna, turns its face It) tbe gay and music: loving world of
that city. Taken an a whole, thene non a tan do not wear the
features of a lonely or int rospet live man.
Prom other sources we. art* acquainted with tin* Beethoven
of thene days an a young man who tried, even in Jm personal
appearance, to bring himnelf on a level with the people whose
society he frequented. At that time he wan nidi careful about
mattern of dress, bring almont foppinh, with bin lorgnette and
bin coat of line blue broadcloth witli gilt buttons, lie learned
riding and fencing, nay, even dancing; tradition says, with the
sad remit that he, the novereign lord of trunic, never learned to
keep time ! In spite of all thin he certainly never gave up one
/iota of jm eonvictionn an an art ini, nor of 1 ho highly developed
npirit of opposition of bin strong personality; the history of the
sonatas does, in fact, give instances of such conflicts and out¬
bursts of self-assertion. Undoubtedly, too, he must from, the
c
i8 BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS
very beginning have felt himself above tine society anti almost
have looked down upon it in defiance. Not the leant reason
for this would be that he soon became aware that the h»<li<**i
especially were delighted with those “finger aerobatn ” who
were just then carrying everything before them in Vienna and
corrupting public taste. IJc would feel bitterly that tlitw
leaders of fashion in Vienna appreciated or understood Inn
rarely what he essentially was, or the ideals to which he wm
striving to attain. In the minds of most of these people he
would be classed on a level with such favourite virtuosi as
Wolffl or Gelinek (that wizard of variations), or poor Steibek
of unhappy memory, who. obtained great effects with his
tremoli on the piano, while his beautiful wife accompanied
him on the tambourine! In those circles it was sometimes
found interesting—in a sporting musical sense—to back a
Beethoven against such fellows as these. It happened only
very seldom, however, without some display of his kiiiug
humour.*
A favourite form of entertainment in these salons consisted
of improvisations, which every pianist had to bo able to play
if he wanted to hold his own with his audiences. But what a
gulf there must have been between their runs and trills, their
cascades of sound or their musical fireworks, that once math-
Beethoven wickedly ask one of them : “Yes, but look lien*,
when are you going to begin ? ”—and the music that resounded
when, on rare occasions, and seldom at an order, he sat down
at the piano to improvise, most often when he was in tlic mood
to give his imagination a free rein. Very often, it is true, quit e
a little comedy had to be acted first to induce him to do so,
but when he did yield, the understanding members of bin

* It it characteristic of the attitude of theie other pianists to Beethoven, that so

late as in 1818-20, when Czerny had arranged recitals of Beethoven’* piano music in
his own house every Sunday morning, the limited accommodation wai, m the sarcastic
words of Schindler, not taken up by any of the virtuosi in such great favour with the
general public.
 OH IS a, NOS. i, a AND 3 19

audience spoke of these Improvisations with the greatest

enthusiasm. It seems as though the moot beautiful inspirations
of the young Master sprang into life on these occasions; unfortu¬
nately, however, many of them arose ami died in the same
hour, although Beethoven was always careful witli his ideas,
and once said that he would be able to repeat an extempore
piece of music note by note. The Fantasia for piano, Opus 77,
has often been mentioned as a sort of paradigm of the impro¬
visations of Beethoven, but instances of this side of his genius
can also be found in the sonatas, as we shall presently sec. The
powerful impression made by Ids improvisations has been
preserved in a few accounts given by enraptured listeners. We
read in them how the Master’s figure at the piano seemed to
assume a more than earthly aspect; his eyes blazed and his
features were drawn. “ It was a grand and yet an awe¬
inspiring sight.” " I le knew how to make such an impression
that often he drew tears from everyone, and many could be
heard weeping.”
Our knowledge of Beethoven’s piano-playing is, in fact, not
a slight one, oven though the opinions about it are somewhat
varied; but that is easily explained, partly by the taste and
particular artistic style of the narrator in relation to that of
Beethoven, partly by the very changeable moods and the impul¬
sive temperament of the latter; finally, also, it would depend on
the period of Beethoven’s life in which such a listener had heard
him play. It is a well-known fact that as a young man he
playetl the organ, while at the same time he founded his studies
of the piano on J. S, Bach’s Wablumperiertes Clavier, and
I*h. Em. Bach’s Versuch der toahrm Art das Clavier zu spielen.
Here then is the firm foundation of his playing and of his
technical training, and this especially (the organ and J. S.
20 BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS

Those who had the good fortune 10 hear If.-Hlum-t. play

were, as said before, most enthusiastic about !•»«
tions; but they also speak of the wine wiIh wind. Ur P biyed i
sight, including music in full score, and t rannpom, t hr ..|«'» ■
Nor is he less famed, in his absolute mast cry of (In- puno lot
his beauty of tone, its power, its Hinging qiud.iy, .la lull
ness, passion and humour.* Itis quite poiiiuhhs ol <om;r .ha.
in the ears of those who had not progressed beyond thr oo u.a.y
smooth elegance which delighted them in the piano playing
of the drawing-room pianists, Beethoven’s :u..o< ram. immm-r
might seem “rough” and Ids method of playing hard,
being in a high degree personal, expressive, sharply emphasised
and probably also capricious. Strange to say, even <mnpHr.it
musicians like Cherubini and I’leyel, and later Spol.r, have
expressed such disparaging opinions on Beethovens playing,
probably for reasons like those indicated above. ! alter genera
tions who have heard a Liszt, a Rubinstein, a Ihilovv and tin*
greatest of the pianists of the present, day, would *'eri:u..ly h.r
better be able to appreciate and admire Beethoven as a plain,
player. In this capacity, too, he quickly ad vatu ed beyond his
time. A few positive statements about bin playing, whb h seem
to be reliable and founded on accurate judgment, are of aprn.il
interest: such as, that Beethoven’s attitude wi.ib playing
was supremely calm, noble and beautiful, and without any
grimaces (probably several of his rivals were guilty ol something
of that kind !); one “ never saw any throwing about of tin-
hands, they glided over the keys and the lingers alone did ilu-
work.” His playing “differed so much from the ordinary
style that it seemed as though he would break new ground for
himself” (an early remark by a discerning observer). This
* “ In rapid scales, double trills and skips be wan unrivaUrd. It om hr nmt ftmn
his sketch-books that he attached great importance to fmiuhnl, flowing poweilul awl
legato playing. His exercises deal with scales in octaves, thuds, sixths, truth-*, double
chords, skips, the crossing over and interplay of the hands. Many attempt* aim at
tone effects, especially the effect of letting a chord die away by lifting tin* fm/'ein one
by one from above ” (Huschke).
 OIMJS a, NO'S- x, a AND 3 ai
agrees willn C//4Tiiyf who wrote In kin School Jot the Piano:
fc‘ Brothovm cuth cd new and bold passaged from the piano
by tin* nr;o of tlm pedal, and by extraordinarily characteristic
playing, whit h wan cspr< ially remarkable for tint strict; legato
of tin* < bonk and formed a new kind of singing - , - bin
playing wan spiritual, grandiose, alid, particularly in adagio,
full of feeling and \<*ry romantic, . . . dim means of expression
often went to extreme?!, especially when it wan a matter of
humour.” It in < haracterisric of him that In* sometimes kept
tin* tempo bat k in crescendo pannage?), while an a rule he played
strictly in time and kept exactly to the tempo, yet so that
humour and bin varying mood?) also found expression here,
when be would suddenly hurry the tempo on. Opinion?) vary
ai to bill use of the pedal, yet, unlike Mozart, he seems to have
u?;ed it much oftener than the indications given in the printed
works. It i» said of Beethoven^ playing that it vm 0 extremely
brilliant, but not: very delicate and sometimes indistinct;.”
Here again we must; take into account his momentary mood,
possibly also hin failing sense of hearing. The opinion just:
mentioned eun hardly be taken as applicable to all occasions,
even though Beethoven would almost: certainly sacrifice some
of the delicacy for the sake of greater feeling.* At any
rate it itt probably true that Beethoven overcame the greatest
difficulties more by the power of his all-round musical
genius than by the help of perfect technical mastery of the
instrument:. As he advanced in his career as a composer he
naturally paid less attention to keeping np his rank as a pianist,
yet, he by no means neglected his playing, and an long as his
bearing fairly permitted it, Beethoven continued playing in
public, though more and more rarely. The last time he sat
* Thifs If} quite in accord with the remarks of Beethoven's pupll,^ P. Ric«: u When
t spoilt a pawsago, intd« a wiftteke in the attack, or failed in a «Mp, he iddom laid
anythin#; hut il there wni anything wanting h the exprotnon, a creicendo or the
like, nr m the character of the piece, he was angry | hccam, a# he said, the former
might be an accident, the latter a want of knowledge, of feeling or of attention.
The former often happened to himself, even when he was playing in public/*
22 BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS
at the piano at a public concert was in i8l4> whcn he took part
in his B flat Trio, Opus 97; his deafness was then already
very far advanced. For some time he still played in hi» ‘dtrle
of friends; the accounts of the deaf Master’s playing in these
later years often sound very fantastic and differ widely. Spohr,
who, however, neither understood nor cared about Beethoven,
says categorically: “ It was certainly no pleasure ! ” (to listen
to him). A faint afterglow of the character of Beethoven’/*
playing reaches us in accounts of how his best and dearest
pupils and admirers played his own compositions. In dealing
with the sonata Opus iox there will be an opportunity to dwell
further on this.
# * * * * *
Beethoven had learned to value and look up to the music of
Haydn and Mozart and followed them in his first sonatas, which
have many of their features both in form and in theme. But
at the same time we hear in them at the very outset the voice
of a new and independent personality, which increases with
astonishing speed in each new opus and develops more and more
as it forgets its original source in a greater and greater degree
and creates its own form. We already begin to perceive it in
the first sonata of Opus z, in F minor. It begins with a theme
that was much in favour at the time, and occurs in the music
of Mozart and others: the ascending notes of the broken
chord; it has been called, from its origin and effect, u The
Mannheim rocket.” (The beginning of the second sonata
seems to point in the same direction,) The andante in an
arrangement of a piano quartet from the Bonn days, one of
the youthful first attempts on a bigger scale. Even at this
early stage we notice Beethoven’s well-known inclination to
return to his themes and clothe them in a more beautiful and
significant form. This movement, regarded as a whole, is
closely akin to the art of Mozart, but for our ears it is impossible
to detect such misery and utter despair as the young composer
 K MINOR, OPUS a, NO, i *3
ascribed to It; lit the naive and hurried text of a subjoined ode,
not withnunding 11n melancholy tone. The minuet that follows
it, act nrdlng to I laydn’s pal (out, la not no childlike or spoil *
Burnous an the corresponding movements of in predecessor.
It h already more emphasised and moie gloomy in theme
(ah hough Haydn also wrote a few peculiar minuet,:} in a minor
key), and it has almost given up that air of dance mimic in
whit'lt thin part of the sonata originated. It already points
onward to the Beethoven svhemi, fioou in a singular way to
obtain their place in the sonatas. But in ihe fimU especially
■ a new and particularly Beethovenesquc feature appears
With regard to thin movement It in worth while noticing that
tin* K minor sonata wan written, or at any rate sketched out, in
Bonn. Thin finale has nothing to do with society life in
Vienna. It is passionate, sombre, violent, like lint youth, in the
rad home in the town on the Rhine. There seems to he a
strong, personal outburst it) the (irst, bnm«pudy struck chords,
and in the eon trust inn, mournfully plaintive melodies, the
spontaneous sniping °f a yottthful soul; one of them is that
beautiful second theme, that like a timid sigh comes out shyly
to a gentler world than that described in the harsh minor
chords and passages, and which, after being twice repeated,
concluded with apparent reluctance as though by a stern
command. Mil is early sonata, then, hears the si atrip of lire
Beethoven features, and the finale especially, with its dramatic
passion, makes one feel that it; has been conceived in a new era ;
that of Werlher’s Lridrn, of the Great Revolution, the era of
the hectic dramas of Schiller1# youth. In the sonatas of Haydn
and Mozart, the closing movement was nearly always—no
matter how agitated and varying its different stages—har¬
monious, well-balanced, frequently comfortable, nay even
u jolly n and therefore often its least weighty part. What a
contrast to them is this first great sonata of Beethoven ! Here—■
an in most of the succeeding ones—he has already gathered and
 24 BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS

saved up Ms force for this very final movement, in order to

make it the weighty, irresistibly effective close of the work,
the conscious climax of the sonata.
The next two sonatas of Opus z were now composed in
Vienna, and this can be distinctly perceived in them, ‘//icy
do not gruffly, not to say harshly, turn their hacks on the sur¬
rounding world. Their brilliant attitude, so favourable to the
display of the performer’s talent, shows exactly the composer’.'i
intention of distinguishing himself as much as possible in the
circle of Ms Viennese patrons, who expected him, as they expect a 1
every new virtuoso who appeared on the scene, 10 produce
compositions of Ms own. In these sonatas, or at any rate in
the greater part of them, one seems to read some of the joy
and pride of their creator in seeing such a radiant world,
full of promise, opening to receive the first fruits of his gen inn.
There is an assured gaiety and courage in them; tiny are
elaborated with a greater richness, brilliance and variety, hod,
in harmonics and subject, as well as in a pianistic aspect, than
the first, which is altogether remote from them in its mint •
spective and personal intensity.
The A major sonata shows the bright joy and pride of de¬
composer in his own achievement, in the very conquest of
difficulties, both musical and technically instrumental, i f aydn ’»
gaiety is heard in the first movement, and his spirit is present
in the splendid and inventive thematic work—though developed
and multiplied. The F minor sonata, especially the final?,
contains nothing of this, which is another proof of its pre-
Vienna origin. In the modulation part we meet with a
Beethoven idea, also occurring later in the sonatas and else¬
where, that of letting the leading theme appear in its full
orm but in an alien key (here F major instead of A), as if
the composer wanted to “trick” the listener into thinking
that he has got home ” again, while he still has a few surprises
up his sleeve, before he correctly and normally returns to
 A MAJOR, OPUS a, NO. z z$

tin* Ionic !{'■/. Tbiii pcciili;uiiy of tit.ylc h;ui been called

“ Pnciido rciuific,” and juntly been referral back to Haydn’*
mode of cxjire.riion, Imi iia Iminoroiia diameter, that awmii It)
lay a playful nap for l lie listener, in t-lonely related (o UceUnmm’n
an blit: nature, and it otauira frequently, e:;pct:ially in ihewmataii
of liia earlier yearn, undt an in Opua ro, No. z (lat: rnoveincnl),
0| ms ttj, No. 2 (nit movement). The rrmlody, hinted at rather
than (listImtly sung, of tin* second theme in a (Taraet eristic
feature hi this allegro; we shall see that Beethoven ia often
fond of expressing himself in thin way. The Larjp, which in
called appauitmaU^ in related to pathetic and exalted nlovv
moveineittn in Haydn, while ladder the sweetness of Mozart.
It will he notieed that Beethoven here already introduces an
u orchestral ” feature in Inn piano music : the pizzicato effect
of tho busses, doubtless an invention of fun own, lie in entirely
himself, too, in hin surprising wwm transformation of the leading
theme advancing boldly and broadly in full force, There in
good reason for Comburieu to nay of thin Largo an a whole, that
** alieady it in the work of a thinker.” The third movement
in i ailed a Ht./urzn^ lor I he lirnt time in tint nerien of the nonatan.
In it lea and subject, however, it in mostly akin to Haydn’a
playfulness, and, an nometirnen in thin, it contains a colour-note
ol Slav sadness in the minor theme of the trio. The object
of the Rondo seems mainly to he that of social entertainment.
fit the third of ihe non atari (C major), which makes mill
greater demands on the performer, one in reminded rather of
Mo'/art. The lirnt tnoventent is art elaboration of a quartet
movement from the Bonn period. An innight into thin peculiar
method in easily obtained in Riernann’a Ihmdhuch dor M,usik~
peschichtcj showing the energetic, untiring alterations arid
improvements, in which inspiration and intention form a deep,
strange and often extraordinarily fruitful alliance. It will be
observed that the little theme with which the movement now
1 Vo!* II* Part 111* p* 196 $§q*
z6 BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS

begins, and which may seem to be insignificant, somewhat arid,

if you like, is a clever re-modelling of the opening theme oi 1 l'r'
quartet, which was a more conventional and empty rmifih .d
phrase, compared to which the C major theme in ito prerietif
form has a quite bold and distinct air. In this movement a j<*y,
brimming over, like that so often occurring in Mozart, hi
developed with this theme; it is full of radiant you tliful courage,
that at times surges up to proud defiance, and of the humour
that is and always will be an unfading feature of Beethoven1;!
musical physiognomy. This humour cannot be sufficiently
emphasised in view of the prevalent talk of his morbid ntt-1 an ■
choly and super-sensuous ideality. In his life as in his art.
Beethoven kept this humour of his, preserving it safely through
the saddest trials, even up to the closing days of his life. Wo
meet continual instances of it in the sonatas. This sonata
has two examples; one in the second movement which In t ho
first real Scherzo (with Coda) in the series of sonatas, and tin?
character of which is easily distinguishable from the Haydn -
Mozartian minuet movement—the find of a young master ! *
and the other in the finale. Both have the impress of that,
almost giddy feeling of victory over the burden of life,
which is a typical trait in the spiritual physiognomy of 11 tin
“Storm and Stress” period. It leaps out to us here in the
onward-rushing passages of sixths, and laughs at us; it, trs
giddy too, though in another way, in that second theme, 1 hat
reminds one of the finale of the so-called “ Champagne t rio,”
Opus i, G major, which is about contemporaneous with it.
The movement is one entire joy of life, gaiety, triumph. Hut
next to Mozart’s happy spirit the sonata is an evidence of what,
the virtuoso style of Clementi meant for the young Beethoven.
In the rolling octave passages in the first movement, the strangely
free Coda with the surprising A flat episode and great Cadenza,
as well as the chain of trills in the finale, one is reminded of the
concertos. Just at this time Beethoven did actually enter
 C MAJOR, OPUS z, NO. 3 27

upon this field with the B flat, major and C major Concertos,
Bet againut all the radiant, brilliance and bravura of the other
movements of the sonata is its atlayio in JK major. Here the
young Master has retired into himself; he has felt the need of
$elf'<:ommimmg and now writes a dreamy music-poem, passion¬
ate and exalted; it is the forerunner of other introspective
and deeply emotional movement!! in later sonatas ami other
works, The miner section with the sharply marked bars is
peculiar with its crossing of the hands and syncopated notes
emphasised by accents. This part is altogether particularly
Beethoven in character--and psychologically extremely inter¬
esting. The young Master rise# to great pathos later in this
beautiful passage, hi which C major appears suddenly, through
a very effective deceptive cadence.
 CHAPTER IV

The three sonatas of Opus 2 are followed in the very next

year, 1797, by a new piano sonata, Opus 7 in E flat major, 1t
was called in the publishers’ announcements “ Grande Sonata,”
a term here used for the first time, and it is dedicated, wit.li a
dainty French title, to Mademoiselle la Comtesse Babette <le
Keglevics. We are still in the circle of Beethoven’s aristocratic
acquaintances, but can hardly suppose that the dedication of
the sonata to a young lady of rank was due to tender feelings
on the part of the composer. At one time it certainly was
called “Die Verliebte,” but that was probably because the
Countess Babette was considered to be one of Beethoven^
numerous so-called “ flames,” who were well known in those
circles, and perhaps Viennese society judged from a dedication
really founded on Beethoven’s feelings. The music itself of
the sonata cannot exactly be described as u enamoured 99 ;
besides, there is no evidence that the Countess was one of those
who had stirred Beethoven’s affections. He may have paid her
some attention—this would not have been unusual with him,
and as the lady’s music-master he would have ample opportu¬
nity—but in any case he would wish to pay her and her aristo¬
cratic family a customary compliment by dedicating his new
piano work to her. Possibly he had played it for the first
time in her home, which was situated just opposite the house
in which he was then living. A year or two later the Countess
was married and became Princess Odescalchi, but the friendly
relations between the two continued, and Beethoven dedicated
to the Princess his Concerto in C, which, although composed
earlier, was not printed until 1801. It has been said by a
28
 K FLAT MAJOR, OPUS 7 2i)

irhtiivr ol tIk* young Countenn that Beethoven used to conn*

io flu* Imnuun u in d running'ifowu and nlippmn* and wiili a
mghlcap on hin brad.” It dorn not round very probable* and
in any < anc it dbagreen with tin* accounts wr have of Beethoven
ju-ii at thIn tinm* trying to adapt himself In appearance to the
fax u-ty In whic h ho moved.
(mnpared with the thr<*<* Unit sonatas the character of this
nn<* in < aimer and more', harmonious. It doer not give that
intprerrmn of wanting to attract attention and create a renra-
lion* an do the Unit sonatas, at any rate the two in major key!!.
Beethoven had by thin time nettled down to bin life in Vienna*
which he had very quickly chadded that: he would not: re-
<•*< hanpr lor that in Bonn. He had already made himself at
home in hin new world and knew how to value itn reception
<d him. lie had been away on the only concert tour he wan
even* to undertake* to Prague and to Berlin* where he played
at Court, and probably this strengthened ldr relfaamliclence.
lie wan aide to forget* at timer* or to rise above* the envy with
whe h tin* music iauf! of Vienna received him, because they raw
in him a redoubtable rival* and pave vent to their envy in the
( onmpondenre of a Leipzig musical paper. It wan durinp this
year that lie wrote home* to Dr. Wepeler : u I am pettinp cm
well; I may nay, continually better and better*” a statement
that wan unusually sober minded and contented for him.
11 h thin utato of mind that; finds a voice in the broadly
planned and joyounly plidinp lirnt movement* the necondsubject
of whic h c ontainn a linpcrinp* yearninp beauty. "Hie cloning
theme of the lirnt part in ninpularly fanciful, with, its great
pedal point and the melodious figuration in which it seems to
be veiled. The modulation part: seems strangely short in a
movement otherwise rather comprehensive* until it becomes
dear that here, more than in Opus z9 No. 3* space has been
kept for the broadly planned* typically Beethovenesque Coda*
which partly takes the place of* or rather supplements, the
 30
BEETHOVEN'S SONATAS
modulation part. Thus it develops the second subject which
has not been used in the modulator/ part itself. The sonata
reaches its highest point, however, in the I.argo. Altogether, in
these early sonatas, the moat personal feat ures ate Irnpicmly
to be found in the slow movements; it is as t hough the young
Master resorted to them for that introspection lor whh h theie
was less opportunity in the rapid arid brilliant outer move¬
ments that were more turned towards the totter wothl. This
Largo is prominent among the early ones because of its tender¬
ness and broad pathos (in the A flat and I) flat melodies reaper •
tively), and for the first time in Beethoven’s piano music we
get a vivid impression of what the pauses mean in it; of how
he spealcs to us also in the pause, nay, not least in the pause,
how it, too, seems to sing its part in its momentous silence.
Certainly Haydn and Mozart knew how to use ihe pause with
masterly effect; the former especially, in a humorous way. f n
this instance Beethoven’s use of it, as so often later in instru
mental works, is one of great scriousm'(tn, Thr powerful,
dynamic effects, too, are very noticeable in this Largo, they
remind one of Beethoven’s growing interest in oivhestial vvoik
and give the music a peculiar, accented style, now pathetic,
now whimsical; nay, one actually feels here how Beethoven
has enjoyed pushing his effects to extremes, and surprising and
disconcerting his listeners, an inheritance from Joseph Haydn
and the Mannheim school of which he made good use. Wlwti
playing such a movement, therefore, one cannot pay tot; mm h
attention to the expression marks. Beethoven bestowed
minute care on their accuracy, and the effect of the perfonnam e
depends entirely on carrying out exactly the composer’s
directions in this respect.
The sonata has neither a scherzo nor a minuet. Its third
movement is simply termed an allegro. It is a remarkable
piece, and if it had been found in a Schumann composition it
would have been called “Intermezzo” or the like. The
 I*; FLAT MAJOR, OP US 7 jt

suggestion of Schumann's name in connection with It is not;

lot t nitons, f he comfortable cheerfulness of tho allegro,
afiif fit ill morn 1ts very fa/jt;iritn% furtively rustling minor*!
(K flat minor), are like forerunners of the later composers for
piano of the roman tie school, Without any model before him
Beethoven here point;] ahead far beyond Id;; own time* The
obscure, mysteriously changing harmonies the veiled melody,
hinted at rather than expressed, have a strangely impressionistic
< har;u ter which has only in later time;; been adopted and used.
The minors in one of those scherzi^ of which there are not a
few, which are more remarkable and weighty than the chief
movement itself, How Fran'/, Schubert; mufjt have enjoyed
playing fiU(ih a movement! Thvjinah’ in that: part of the sonata
h) whidi one might perhaps be justified in discovering the
teinh*r feelings for lhe younjr lady whose name Beethoven had
plai-ed at the head of hi;; work* It in a very charming amiable
and sprightly piece of music assuredly not: any confession of
love, but, if you like, perhaps a not improbable and light lovo
making to the very young Viennese Countess; the most
“enamoured” passage will then be found towards the end,
in the surprising, extremely dunning turn to E major (/>/>) and
the subsequent return to the leadings key*
######
^Lhe. next sonatas again—at; in Opus 2—appear as a triad,
imitrd under tint number of one work: Opus to, Note r, 2
and 3, They were published only a year after Opus 7,
d his quite agrees with the foregoing account: of Beethoven
and lits position with regard to Viennese society, that during
this period lie devoted himself particularly to the composition
of music for piano which he could bring with him and perform
for the first time in these circles, and whidi his friends and
pupils would be glad to purchase when it was obtainable in
print* The sonatas are again dedicated to a lady of the Vienna
aristocracy; the Countess Browne. It is significant enough
 32 BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS

that before their publication a young music Tula, Joseph

Eder, who published them, and wlio did not Monj; n> mic ol
the old-established firms with whom Beethoven was abeady
connected, opened a subscription in order to g<-t Ids csp.-mcs
covered, “as the name of the author (d<vi Ibnin Violas:,ns)
is a sufficient guarantee for the quality of his vvotk.” The
publisher doubtless reckoned on obtaining an ha* :ri hem Imm
the aristocratic circles.
In dedicating his works to these member!! ol tin* arisiot i,u y,
as was his usual custom, Beethoven intended to pay them Ids
voluntary homage and at the name time to show his ;qq>re< i.i
tion of their kindness and their generous admission of him into
their circle. Such dedication!) had previously in most < ast-s
been a refined form of begging. 'flu: composer ktnov, at any
rate, that his dedication would as a rule be acknowledged by a
sum of money, a costly “ amiffi-box, ” or the like, Ii went
against Beethoven’s proud and self’reliant spirit to follow tIda
custom. In this, too, lie in the linit, of a new age, in demanding,
as an artist to be placed on an equal fooling with the aiistoi mi a
whom he met; even more, to be ranked above them. Then- j.(
evidence of this in a great number of oral and wiilieu stale
ments, often made in hin most drastic manner. Vet, on iIn-
other hand, he would find it perfectly right and lilting ih.u
these wealthy magnates should admit him to their lioinen,
secure him a life free from care, and satisfy Ida modeat requiir-
ments with regard to everything that could make life bcautilul
and pleasant. He therefore accepted as a matter of course an
invitation to take up his quartern for a long time in Prince
Lichnowsky’s home (we hear more, later, of this patron ol
Beethoven), but it certainly did not restrict Ids freedom in any
respect, especially not that of his tongue. ()ncc, when he calls
Count Browne, to whose wife the sonatas of Opus 10 were
dedicated, “the first Maecenas of my muse,” it is most likely
because he meant in this way to annoy Priuce Eichnowsky, wit li
 C MINOR, OIM IS *o, NO. 33
whom hi?, trhuiomi vvrrr junt thru M rained, Ihnow:;ky irally
having thr bent c laim to hr r alien I Hrr| ItovrnV) (iml, protector
in Vienna. In any < aur In*t<l<*rfMI ("mint Bmivnr Inn npr< ial
brnrhu hu, and t hr htl frr did, in hut, rxrrt himnrlf a great
deal on behalf of dir ytn\nyt computin', Af; a token of thank: s
(or (hr drtlit a 1 i<m to I hr ( onn 1 rati hr prrnenIrd Bert hovrn vvi(h
a magidlhent home, Bret hovrn, however, had given up
allowing 11In pro wrun ;t«u a horseman ; hr rode*, only vrry arldom
and at lant quite forgot hi:; valuable mount, no that the groom
wan aldr undint in Inal to makr a good inromr in hiring out. t int
animal, until a hi);' hill for fodder for hin (< nonata' home9?
reminded Beethoven of im exiutenrr, on which he promptly
uohl it ! 'I’hr (*nunt\u vvifr wa:i of I d von hut origin, a gifted
pianint and vrry hrautifuh There wan <wrry rearion, then, for
Beethoven, who did not willingly avoid bountiful women, to
<Irdif alr Inn nonata to hot!
A*; lor t hr (’mint, hr wan a pay and pleanure loving' Viennese
ol l Huh dr.nrrnt ; In* u rrvrllrd in pleanuren,1* and. Beethoven1:)
pupil, Ferdinand Kirn, annoyrd hin t;t riot in an tor hy join ii
it) thru) rather too often, Onr cannot, imagine that lint
Count \*i appiruatton o( Boothover) wouhl hr. vrry deep;
nr-vrrthrlrrifi we hoar latrr that thr nonata Optus zz i:s dedicated
to hint, vvhih* two work?: with vartationn have: horn crowned by
Brrihovrn with thr nutur of thr pianint rmmienn, which in aluo
< onur< trd with tin* undedu ated nonata, Opitn 31, of which
motr will 1 >r natd latrr, A frw yrarn after, they both dinap-
prated I rom Beet hoven’n nphrre of life; pounibly the Count
left Vienna in order to go an Ambassador to St. Petersburg.
######
Tin* 1Had of nonata?) rcaclirn it:; climax, in the third. We muni:
hr brirf in dealing with the two that precede it:. The first, in
C minor, hun not inaptly been com parted to the farnoun Mozart
nonata in thr name key. There in a Mozart ian. vivacity and buoy¬
ancy in the updated main theme, great energy in tire powerfully
u
 B EliTH 0 V E N\S B O N AT A B
34
effective leaps to llie rn<ulian 1: beyond the octave, and hi rim
bearing of this movement there in a smgularelearne?m ami purity
which is almost academic. One does not icel us yd what t In* <
minor key was to mean to Beethoven. In the andante ilmo- n
a melodious sweetness that is again reminiserut of IVboout ;
but in the finale, with its frequent:/hi and y/’s, tin* forceful in
dividuality of a Beethoven again comes into play, and one <*1
his favourite and typical rhythmic motives, | -, j* T 0 | \**
incidentally occurs in it, The whole movement is extremely
concise, nothing in it is superfluous, everything is expired
with perfect clearness and precision. Tim finale, and the
sonata as a whole, makes an impression on our generation <»l a
very simple, clear and easily understood “ classical piece nf
music. It is strange to learn that: contemporary listenm had
quite another opinion about it, for it: can hardly have berm
mere professional envy that caused the critic* in tin* above
mentioned Allgemcim Miuikalische 7,eitunj* to desc ribe rim
sonata as “ a piece of music in which the abundant* of idr.n
made the composer pile up his thoughts one upon I he other*
and in a somewhat bizarre manner group them together in
such a way that; not rarely they produced an obscure subtlety
or a subtle obscurity.” Which, shows how appreeiat ion and
judgment change with the changing times! Arid what an
insight these few lines of “ professional ” criticism give mi into
what Beethoven had to fight against as a creative arliut front
the very beginning of his career ! There is no minuet (nor
scherzo) in this sonata; this is of some interest, Bedhovmi
having planned an intermediate piece which he calls 44 Inter¬
mezzo ” in the sketch-book, adding the remark, u Dun hams uo
olmc Trio, nur ein Stuck.” Such an intermezzo— but with
a trio—occurs in the following F major sonata.
Perhaps some traits of Beethoven’s other great model,
Haydn, will be found in this Sonata in F, at any rate in the
brimming gaiety that goes through the whole of the llr.it
 •** MAJOR* OIMIS io, NO, 2 35
movement, using in ilu*/ntule to frolicsome, even exuberant,
?;junir, in mainly jugnto play* Hut. it, cannot, be denied that
tvr nit ounter lmir a bolder jesting, a broader humour than t bat,
of Haydn, which is jolly and rather homely, and a whimsical,
almost motking smile where Beethoven (in the second part of
the lii'.nt movement) make,*! uu<* of the so-called “JPhciuIo-
reprise,” men tinned above as occurring in the Sonata in A
major, Opus 2, No* 2, I lere it appears very distinctly, 1 he
leading theme (in the modulation part) coming forward first in
a " wrong ” key, as though with the set purpose of making the
listeners forger what the right one was~after which the com¬
poser in a < on pie of bars seems to torn a graceful somersault: in
order to (all elegantly on his feet in t he right key of F major a
genuine display of Beethovenesque humour, which occurs as it
were nune consciously and deliberately than in his more simple
prrdet efisor. The pnale has been aptly described by Mara, as
a froliesome fooling with sonata and fugue ; the sonata form is
not ruiittly carried out, and there is really no suggestion of a
lugue; hut the < om poser, being in a mood for playful ban ter,
pretends that a learned pie< r of music of I Inn sort: is looming up.
In the gaiety of this pnale one must be careful not to ,hurry
the pie* e into an unreasonable rapidity, and thus in reality
weaken its effrt t. ft h (rue that this 2/4 movement is headed
u Pres to,” and the speed that can preserve mastery and distinct¬
ness in its perforruanee is, (if course, allowable. But the tempi
were not so rapid in Beeihovru’s lime as in these days of express
trains and electnV * unents; and Mozart was quite right: when
he did not want his music to be u chased ” by a too headlong
tempo on the excellent grounds that u the fire from a piece
of music must come from within, you will not put more fire
into it by hounding it on,” dins gay sonata, however, has an
allegret to^ neither a scherzo nor a minuet, but (as in Opus 7 and
as planned in the C minor sonata) an intermezzo-like movement,
lltii gloomy, passionate F minor piece with its trio in D flat,
 36 BJiKTHOVKN’S SONATAS

in the dreamy beauty of which one inv«luiti,m'ly rnurmbrnr.

the name of Franz Schubert, taken tin far from the spbim.d
sphere of Haydn and from the merriment of the outer mow
ments. One sees their playful humour and childish pi.mln
in a new light when one reads Bed hov<-u’:i let tern ol thin
period, especially those to Baron von /mirskall, Ids “ Modi
Count” (“Conte di inusica”), who during these y<un had
become one of Beethoven’s friends, and on wlu.se worthy and
helpful head the young Master never tired of pouring the viahi
of his radiant spirits, or his always ingenious and really good
natured mockery. Here again we tieo the harmony between
Beethoven’s humanity and his artistic product ton.
The third sonata of this Opus in I) major should be
rather more carefully considered. It, is, although Beethoven
himself does not call it so, a “ Grande Somite " which really
means a work on concert scale both in compass, plan and
development.* It is, moreover, a sonata containing a slow
movement, which more than any of the earlier ones vividly
expresses Beethoven’s personality and Ids spiritual state at the
time when the idea for it was conceived, giving to Ids
despondency the most distinct and earnest features, and long
remaining unsurpassed in musical and psychological interest in
the series of the sonatas.
The first movement is full of virile, power, ol dashing < mirage,
and the lovely, slightly melancholy second theme whit h may
be a reminiscence of a Clemonti sonata is neither < apal.le ol,
nor intended to dim, the brightness of the movement. The
artistic effect of contrast to the Lar/;o was to be all the greater,
the more this first part radiated power and vital courage, nay,

* JRiemann has incident-ally maintained that the term ** tiruridr Jimmie M wan
applied to sonatas that were published singly, i.c, run, in sheets f nriMinitiK two m
three or more together, as was often the case in those days, ffowrvrr, an a ^mata
like that in F minor, Opus 57, which was published singly, in not tailed f darnfe
Sonate,” the explanation does not meet the case, and Kiemann admit* thin himnrlh
There is more reason to think that the compass and character of a sonata would as
a rule be deciding factors in the choice of this term.
 l> MAJOR, OPUS id, NO, 3 37
almost tlHwnrr, and in thin irnpcrr the (*oda in worth noticing’,
with 11 ft for tint mo ending t but nmnn to have horn pained by
t ho o,sei t ion ol (m!f o,
Thr entirely diffomnt moot! ol 1 ho Largo h therefore all the
tnoro impressive. Wo loo) at mu e that thin plorloun movement
luihln a dorp uu*huu lu»ly, an ominous pmelermp, a despondent
broodinp over an m Idny pain, which tin* artist cannot throw
oh in npitol distinct elforta to free himself. Tin* indisputable,
spirit mil meaning of tho music mipht la* due to an aoddontal
mood, or otnhody an idea of tho art tut ’r; imapinal ion, or ho
ara jilaal to tortain exterior events nr experiences that had (tiled
hint with a prief for width ho nought eonsolalion in tho poetry
ol non ruin. Tin* Largo has boon ascribed to Reethoveidfi well-
known loudness for Shakespeare and < onsidrred to 1a* a deserlp™
tion ol Rmrjoo at tho pra ve of Juliet. Rut is It possible to
believe thin? I)nrn it satisfy oithor mind or imagination to
explain thin dorply personal music an a kind of illustration, as
lopiodm nip In mush al notes a l rapic s< one from tho work of
anofhn pemus ? TIu*ie miphl la* rnoro reason to apree with,
t hose who have < ailed tin* movement u At my mother1?} praved7
Wo know how attuohod Roothovon wan to his mother -pam
tu ulai ly in < omparisou with Inn frellnps for his fathei> and
how dorply ho wan affo< tod when ho was railed away from
Ida fir,M May in Vienna in her flitk hod and hor death noon
all or. The hotm* nl hifi < hlldhood wafi really hrokon up when
Ids mother died, and with hifi allrrtionate lioart ho wotdd
undouhlodly often dwoll on hor memory. The thomo of tho
Largo, therefore, may have arisen in Ids mind in fmrh an hour,
hut. wo have nothing definite to support thin view; and the
hu t muM tun. ho overlooked that more: than ton yearn had
elapsed since those events took place. Ilia prief could no
hmper ho an fresh nor his mitul no crufihod hy pain and despair,
(t if; far more reasonable to auppoae that; at the time when, the
Ltirpo was wtiuen, Beethoven waa bepinninp to fe(d seriously
38 BEJiTHOVEN’S SONATAS

that his hearing was growing weaker. During these years he

had the first warnings of the terrible fate that was to overtake
him, his deafness. He brooded over this fate, tried to hide it
from others, perhaps he also thought he could deceive himself
and that it was not serious and inevitable. But his fate wan
upon him—he could hardly doubt about that; and even i hough
he might forget it in the gay life of Vienna and enjoy t he favour
shown him, or comfort himself with the consciousness of hin
mental and physical powers, he could not wholly escape from
the burden, nor for very long at a time. Tin's burden of sorrow
must already then have swept over his spirit. 'Elds Largo s
mesto, therefore, became one of those works which are born of
the pain and suffering of an artist for our joy and edification,
as Heine has said, “ Aus meinen grosser! Sehrnerzen nuirld it h
die kleinen Lieder.” It is less easy to explain the connection
between this deeply felt and impressive Largo and the move •
ments that follow it, the pleasant but; not; very considerable
Mmuetto and the closing Rondo, which seems to be amiably
questioning or searching. Can it be explained as a fulfilment
of the psychological law by which human nature can bear only
a certain measure of sorrow and anguish ? When the measure
is full, a reaction sets in, bringing forgetfulness or repose in
gentler moods, in remembering happier times, to a mind not
morbidly weakened. Beethoven’s own interpretation of the
first theme as a sympathising “ Are you still no grieved f
would seem to indicate this.
Beethoven himself is said to have called the Largo a descrip
tion of the varying moods of a melancholy mind, nor is there
any doubt about the prevailing mood of this movement'. 11
is produced, musically, by the very choice of key, the irre¬
concilable, gloomy D minor—Berlioz has even called it “ bleak ”
—by the low notes of the melody, which remind one of
the sombre colouring of a contralto voice, and by its almost
obstinate, or, if you like, hopeless, despairing circling about
 \) MA|OR, OIM1S io, NO, 3 39
tbr ;,aum lew notr;( The violently disjnonant outbursts in full
dumb ha v** all tin* < It a tan1 ten3 of despair, This) hopelcsin brood-
inn in mo'it |Hivveultdly and impresuivdy described towards} the
dose, in vvhi< h the* melody In laid Jn the* deepest basin, where it
In woven iut<t a w*d> of disquieting and omiuotiri broken chords;,
and rained through apparently remote keys (a bold mimical
efjV< t, with h is really logical enough) to a wilder and wilder
expression, Rr< one illation doen not. rainr, not event at: the*,
end ; it in moo* like* tin* plaintive nigh of exhaunt ion than repose.
It t annot be: woneh*rr*d that, Brelhoven wast dee,ply and
violenttly nliaken when he discovered that hin hearing wan
attacked, and growing weaker in spite of all the remedied
atte*mpted. I le wan being plundered and ravaged on a vital
point ; he wan in danger of loning the most important, the
greatest of all tin* aennen. To him it, munt have looked like the
eompleie and undreamed* of overthrow of Inn career an an art inI,
fatal to him an an executant ntunieian and dentnietive, of Ida
whole position and future in the mimical world of Vienna. Ife
did, in fad, (Tel the misfortune to be a fate in the anticpie
sense, an an evil from wldi h In* oould not r.srape and which had
been laid upon him by the god.n (or, an he ealln them in the
lamotin TrUtiwntt of IIrilip/mlfidt, ihe Parra?), whom he had to
light agahiot and “arize by the throat.” Wan the fate laid
upon him, and wan it no laid without any fault; of I bn own ?
fPwo quest Ions will perhapn in*ver be*, annwered : whether the
thought fiugge.oted itnell to Beethoven that he wan himself to
blame for thia nnffering, and what grotmda can be discovered
for thin thought in the actual facts}. On re the question wan
missed, ami it i;eemn It) have been rained for the first time in
C Jrovn\s famous} Dictionary of MnstcP it. could not fail to make a
deep imprenniou on everyone, because such a self-caused
,nufiering ndght explain much that; wan otherwise obscure in
BeethovenV, inner life and in Inn conduct. A doubly tragic
background would then be given to thin Largo, the first violent;
 40 MKTilOVKN’K SONATAS

outbreak of his deep melancholy, Hut notwit hMandhig dir

research and thorough examination ol I bin < a.*;e by rurdh 4[
scientists, it seems no longer portable to arrive at a < Dar and
definite result It will probably always remain an unvdvrd
problem,*
Beethoven mentions bin deafmaw for tin* firri time in a Irttrr
of June 29, 1800 (?), to l)r. WegeDr, and rxprtw.f**; liimrudf
with such openness and keen observation that pliyMcjain at
this very day have thought (hey rouhl diagnonr hh < omplainr
(otosclerosis); it is probably only an to its eatifie and 01 igiu that
doubt and disagreement; still exist. lie writer in a letter of
u that malicious demon : iny poor health,” and lw Mates with
reason that it is caused by an internal ailment. Hr talim of
various cures that he has been made to go through in vain
(and which, by the way, lie was to continue for a long while,
now in desperation, now in hoprfiilnerr). lie garth ubulg
mentions that lie can no longer hear tin* high notn (in V(f( 4|
and instrumental inusie); it: eausen him Iran dh ntnlmt in t nit
versation, as people do not; noliee bin dull hearing vmy min h,
knowing that he is absent-minded ; but he has u a roaring and
swishing noise in his ears night and day 11 (the tygihal and
distressing feature of enr-t rouble). lleeannot for* e himrHf m
tell people that he is deaf and he adjures hbi friend mu to id)
anyone of his state, “not even Loreben ” (L\ Klmunrc BrrUu .
ing). “I only tell you about; it: as a senet. I have already
often cursed my existence; Plutarch Inis led me to redgnafion ”
but soon after he calls resignation “a miserable refugr, arid
yet there is nothing (dse left for me.”
Such deep despondency would of nererrify find ut ferum #• in
r #/hLIat?Sf Write5 °? 1>ecl-hovfin,B infirmity (W. Sdiwrkhrhnrt : thrfhwnU
Mum™> tazz) rejects the diagnoHiH of OtofioleroUw, and u of tf(r* opinion t)Mf
Beethoven suffered from a disease of the inner car, Nrurilpi ;U uofdNdUo-t ihb
complaint, nor the disease which according to thin wriler ouord HoUlnwru'fi douh,
“P™of c“.V Iwm, l>« ii'inilif'l In ,,rU in, mini info. lion
f ™dtncc ” of "1U* » K‘v«1' Such rviilrmr hit* ,„>! hrrn ,;im. oiol
P* u#C ,t,P.robaW3; I,CT« wil1- Mnmwliilr ll.i, hook ;l
KLd.! tbat 19Taluablc an<> Jntwwunff with rc/fanl to ihr hifliicmr ol Ilrnhom,'.-,
deafnesj on his production, the history of ids do.
 I> MAJOR, OPUS 10, NO. 3 4r

hiM nitum , and at I Inn I inn* It wa?i nowhere no nt rongly til lered
an hi (tn* luiryn in I) minor/ Vc*t in rraliiy Beethoven had not
I’enlgncd himnolf to hi;; fain, nor wan in* yet quite hopeleM. I In
rouhi nt III nnjoy 11?;ooiety ol other people; he tonic ]>art; in
varionn vvayn in tin* munical lilt* about, him perhaps In; ahio
expected to bo a bio to preserve enough of the failing faculty
to keep him from being excluded from nodety. The con-
noiounuonn that he; wan hard of hearing wan now aim out a benefit
to (ho exaggerated anxiety with regard to bin boalrh, that had
lonp Indd away ovor bin mind. (At; iho ape of twenty-live,
when In* thought himnolf romumptive, ho had already written
the well known wordn, u In nphe of the weakness of my body
my noul ahall rule,”) I (in doafnonn developed but; nlowly for a
time, and, a?i no often happen?! in. canon of chronic complaints,
Beethoven wan able, periodically, to forgot: to a certain extent,
or even to reeondle himnolf to, bin infirmity, bin untumally
ntrong < harartor and firm will, of counte, coming greatly to hin
aid. We can midorntand Inn optJminin then, Inn inflexible
courage and t he brigh t gaiety that, nt HI for a long t inn* ebaraeter-
inen him and npeakn to nn in bin mnnlt: ■ -including that; of the
piano nonatan. Whether thin explain?! the ehangen or rontnuitn
of mood uioitt toned above*, between the tuirpfl and Minuet,
and the F truth', in perhapn a cpieniion. Perhapn the; deeper-
lying <aune In that Beethoven had not yet reaehed that interior
matnrity and that mantery over bin art that wan to enable him
later to carry out, fully (he principle of bin eoinpoMitiom in
nouata form: tin; funion of the individual parts within the
cycle into a unity.

* With rrgard to I hr prrformaw'r of I In* tair go, Czerny Ikui thin fit at cment: ” In
thin Largo itattr fully odruhtlrd ti hard undo and Accelerando muflfc enhance tint effect:.”
Schindler writes of it. : ” According to Beethoven the performance of thin compre¬
hensive movement remumi that the tempo should he varied about: ten times—which
is, however, perceptible mostly to a delicate ear. The leading theme, on it« return,
keeps its first tempo, while all the others undergo a change, and must he mutually
hahmeed according lo the requirements of musical perception,” a'heme statements
by men who had heard the Master's own recital of the Largo give one a slight idea of
his rubato performance, in the best sense of the term, of this piece.
 t-‘”g! ■ kf ■ ‘lJ^ iSS

CHAPTER V

Beethoven himself calls the following sonata, Opus i,5 in

C minor, “ Path6tique,” whereas titles like llic “ Moonlight,”
the “ Pastoral Sonata” and the “ Appassionnla ” have been
invented by romantic admirers or by publisher!) with an eye
for advertisement. That he gave it: this title himself makes
one feel tempted to connect it with the. gravity of the
affliction dealt with in the previous chapter, anti undei-
stand its real meaning to be one full of suffering, the sonata
being written at a time when Beethoven had bee omc I ally
aware of the seriousness of his malady. Yet llmv. if) more
reason to think that the term “ pathchicpie ” should be
understood in an aesthetic sense, as the. expression of exalted
passion, and then the reason for choosing it. is not far to seek.
Enthusiasm for the ideals of antiquity was pirvalmf at tin-
time and found expression in other contemporary art.
There can be no doubt that for a time, Beethoven also came
under its influence, more, perhaps, than has often hern noth rd.
It is well known that during this period Vienna eagerly fol ■
lowed the example of Paris in taking ancient Rome as a model,
even in' the fashion of clothes and of hair-dressing. Boo l hoven
himself at this time had his unruly hair cut “ Titus fashion,”
as a certain mode of wearing the hair wan ealled. .But. Beyond
these external details, which may have been a passing fancy,
there is evidence that he was more deeply influenced by this
antique movement. We have heard him mention Plutarch as
his example in resignation, and speak not of “ Pate ” hu t of t he
Parcae; he is absorbed in Plato, and one Beethoven scholar
(Kalischer) has pointed out that a quotation in one of Beet -
42
 OPUS 13: SONATA PATHfirtQUtt 43
hovru’n let tcm indicates a knowledge of Anaxagoras, a (Jreek
philnnophef unknown to flu* average man. Beethoven men-
(ion?) Pern lea a?) an example to he followed ; and we arc all
acquainted witU lii:i enthurhmm for tin* republican, tin* elansie
Roman form of government, and hn highest Kuropean repre-
sentat ive, the young Napoleon Bonaparte. 11 in homage to
thi?) genius noon after, in tin* u Froica 51 Symphony, h ummV*
takably anti heroic in < hararter.
Tliiri fit ri< tly < 1-moic nl tendency areim; already noticeable In, the
leader C minor sonata (Opu?; to, No. 1), not: without: reason
sometime?; called the u lattle Patldtique.” In Opus 13 the
plan i?i broader, the ?;lyle greater, the attitude more conscious,
and it in noticeable that, tin* name key ha?) been ehonen in both
eu?;es. The pat ho.n that we now meet with in the a Pathdtque
Sonata ” i?i, a?) it were, akin to the eharaeten; of elannie tragedy,
and, it may be added, an they appeared in their French reuaiV*
name; Beethovenkn choice of a French title; in thin unique;
inntam e is perhap?), therefore, not areidentab Tin?; sonata
mimic in beautiful, exalted and full of earnentnenn, power and
pomp, but we are not, no tenderly affected by it, nor no done;
to the art hit’s heart an in the Largo in Opus ro, No. 3. Tlis
manner neemn rat lier to be cool, dignified certainly, and with a
look of pain about tin* drawn lip?i, but, at: tin; name; time lie; in,
a?) it were, ndf-eonneioun in bin pain and watchful in regard to
giving it the right effective, expre???iion. In the; really pathetic
introductory (have we are at once, aware of the; dignified, self-
conscious throw of the toga with which the figures of the
tragedy step forth upon the ?;tag<;, their dannical bearing while
they impart to us the ntory of tlu;ir fate and their sufferings.
This (have, which is sounded three times in the course of the
sonata, and which in reflected at the beginning of the second
part, of tin; Allegro, is the core of the movement, which receives
its character from it. The Allegro is certainly more full of
feeling, but, like the Grave, it is controlled by a certain classic,
 BEETHOVEN'S SONATAS
44
reserved outline and shows no particular desire to take the
listeners into its confidence, One of Beethoven's favourite
effects as a pianist is introduced into the second subject, t hat of
crossing the hands—perhaps also an indication with regard to
In t he Adagio
the character and intention of the movement.
Cantabile we seem to get nearer to the composer1!! heart.
It is a melodious and noble piece with delicate and beautiful
details and adorned with bold, harmonic transitions, but: it is
not really pathetic music, and its plastic beauty scents to have
been the composer’s chief concern, witness the u derorous ”
classicism of the close. A Scherzo would hardly suit the whole
character of the sonata; Beethoven therefore omits this
intermediate part, as in the “ Little Pathetic]tie.” The!
attack in the Finale is pathetic perhaps, but in another way
than that of the first movement. It is as though the gentle
singing of the Adagio had introduced a softer mood. This
Finale has even been called “ tandelnd - a 1 erm whirl) there < an
only be reason to apply to the inconsiderable serond sub jet i.
The connection with the first movement, however, can be
distinctly read in the leading subject of the Finale, its relation¬
ship to the’second one hardly being accidental, and perhaps
being an indication of the aim, lately referred to, at unity in a
sonata work. Beethoven with a firm hand keeps hold of the '
ominous C minor in his Finale, and lie does not bring about
any close in a major key. The effectively calculated and strong
closing accents put the finishing marie of the “ pathetic ” on
this work, which was long in extraordinary favour, and perhaps
may be called the most “ classic ” of all the sonatas, a work of
art typical of Beethoven at this time.
_Tlie original title of the sonata was “ Grande Sonata PatM-
tique” therefore an immediate indication of concert style.
It was published towards the end of 1799 and was dedicated
to Prince Carl Lichnowsky, who, as we have heard, was one of
those who at the beginning exerted themselves 011 behalf of the
 OPUS i}: son/if a p/ifitfrnou/>:

young Bonn mush ian when hr amr to Vienna, perhaps at the

iccumnicmlathm of (omit von Waldstdu. The prince •-
who belonged to a Polish family wars twelve yeans older than
Bert ho veil) an ardent amateur of music ami a talented pianist,
I le was a pupil of Mn'/art, for* whom, at a eritieal moment in
that eom poser1 he obtained admission to the Court at;
Berlin and the possibility of a permanent, appointment there,
Mozart, however, out of a fleet ion for u hiss Emperor,” could
not make up bin mind to accept it. Prince I/ichnowsky and bin
wife, nre Countess Thun, a beautiful and musically gifted
woman, now interested themselves in him who was a to console
them for tin* loss of Mozart,” no much that; they even placed
a couple of rooms in their mansion at bin disposal. During the
yeans 1794 6, when Beethoven wars not (staying in the country
near Vienna, he wan thus the guest; of this prince, to whom he
had already dedicated bin Opus l (the three 'Prion, 1795), It
would probably he 111 thin house that; he wan flrut introduced
into (he soc iety of the Austrian aristocracy, amongst whom he
found enduring friends and benefactors. It can hardly have
beam the prefix u van 11 to his name that gained him admission
to these* circles, in whic h it was felt to be but a duty betcoming
fo rank to eneomage and (support a young" musical, genius and
an eminent pianist, ami to bear with Beethovctn’s not; infrequent
caprices, or event lack of ordinary good manners. This might,
of course*, res nil in friction and unpleasant incidents, from which
even the relations with Prince Lichnowsky were not always
free;. Although the Prince himself had shown the young
composer such, a distinguishing mark of his inspect as ordering
hifs servants to attend to Beethoven before attending to himself,
situations arose In which the sensitive, self-assertive and hot-
tempered musician took offence or felt .himself treated with
contumely. It was during such a period of hostility that
Beethoven, m stated above, in a spirit of defiance proclaimed
Count Browne as his a first Maecenas,” big: the breach was
 46 BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS
healed again, and Beethoven soon after honoured his true
Maecenas with the dedication of his second, D major symphony*
A more serious rupture occurred in 1806, while the Prince was
residing at his country house in Silesia where the composer
was his guest, but in that case one’s sympathy is entirely with
Beethoven. This episode is of some interest in the history
of the sonatas, and will be related in connection with the
c£ Appassionata ” sonata.
In spite of everything Beethoven and the Prince were again
reconciled, the Prince living until 1814. He had before then
had occasion to show his readiness to support Beethoven, by
securing him an annuity of 600 florins; and just at the time
when the “ Sonata Path^tique ” was published, he presented
the Master with a set of the genuine old Italian instruments
for a string quartet, many of Beethoven’s chamber music
works being created in his house with the young Sehuppaimgh
as leader.
* * * # # #

The two following sonatas, Opus 14, No. 1 in E and No. 2 in

G, are contrasts to Opus 13 in so far as Beethoven in them quite
forsakes the somewhat rhetorical pathetic language which he
had used in the C minor sonata while under the influence of the
antique style. Here he speaks to us in quiet intimacy, as though
sitting down beside us; in the Allegretto (E minor) his deeply
moved talk becomes so alive that one can almost imagine
the words underlying it; its leading theme has something of
the character of the Lied in its expressiveness. Schindler has
pointed out that Beethoven played the leading subject with a
kind of furious violence, until he reached the £< chord ” (i.e.
the fermato), on which he dwelt very long, while the Maggiore
was played more calmly and quietly and with extraordinarily
beautiful gradations of tone. Here again is one of those
peculiar middle movements in which Beethoven shows how
he can make the j^ano “ speak ” in a way it had never spoken
 K MAJOR, OP UH 14, NO. 1 47

bdme, and which lie, mnployn instead ol the Scherzo only in the
smaller, more intimate sonata, never in (lie, symphonies, thus
showing a delh aie licmr of proporlion, not always possessed
by the < c#1 nptol the later romantic school. AI)ove one of
Ida “ Bagatelle:!,11 Opus 33, Beethoven ha,a written, con una
cert a es fires Amu* fieri ante worth; that might also have beam
wi lt ten above t Ida AHey/etto.
While the feat urea ol tin* K major sonata, apart from the
passionate fervour of the Alley/cl to, are grace and tenderness,
mild ladianec without any brilliance or display, the other
sonata is swayed rather by (aptire. Tin* character of the first
iiiovemnil, in almost childlike in its simplicity and apparently
thrown off in a happy mood, but tin: an re hand of the young
Master is revealed in tint (iearly defmed form and in the
manner in whh h the Unit theme seems of itself to glide
over into the second, yet showing a clear and deliberate con-
tram between the two. Schindler speaks of a strife between
two primipleu in these sonatas, the one beseeching, the other
resistin/;, but we have heard of something like thin in, the other
sonatas, and it may Indeed be naid of neveral of Beet ho vet da
greater workn, for if it means anything, it imlieaten a peculi¬
arity of style in hin music in /'(moral and does not particularly
ronrern t hif! nonata, of which the chief feature, an naid before, in
Its humour. It llourinhen and nparklen, though in varying
degree and form, not only in the firnt: movement, but also in the
Finale, which in exceptionally and somewhat loosely called
Scherzo for it in not a question of a real Scherzo, with a trio,
according to the traditional pattern*.and in the Andante with
variation;; an well, right, to the end of the latter, with its fifi
and jf boldly and merrily net up against each other. The
staccato plan of t he Andante itself migh t very well be a youthful,
merry and playful protest against those who expected from
the slow movement only sweet, visionary melodies, and a
revelling in their tunefulness.
 48 BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS

These two sonatas are dedicated to Barone.-ifj y<>n Braun,

who must not be confused with t he Conn I cun Browne mm
tioned before. She was married to a man of affair?} who had
been created a baron, Peter von Braun, who for sonir yean;
had been theatre director or manager, and about whom
opinions vary a good deal. It was he who later on Induced
Beethoven to compose “ Pidclio,” and mo far the Mount aa point,
onward to a rather storm-tossed part of Beethovenhj life : his
appearance as an opera-composer with the annoyance?; and
disappointments it brought him. With the, ** Kidrlio 17
failure in 1806 the good relations between Beethoven and the
Brauns seem to have come to an end. Like mo?;t of t bo people
with whom we become acquainted through .Boot liovenh;
dedications, they were great lovers of musie, mu only the
Baroness, but also her husband, who is even n;u<l to have corn *
posed music of “ sound quality,” incidentally the mmne of
Burger’s Leonore being his work. There is hardly any eon .
nection to be found, though, between the themes of die sonata?;
and the lady to whom they were dedicated. It h a <|rdn ;oll
of courtesy—perhaps a wise one to the wife of a wealt by baron
interested in the fine arts. Meanwhile it in known of this
lady that she belonged to that set in Vienna whh h bad a < rava*
for the antique, this finding one of its outlets in the arrange >
ment of her garden, and we may therefore believe t bat Bert .
hoven, whose interest went in the same direction, would enjoy
wandering about amongst its statues and idyllic grove-; Ingrn ■
iously copied from those of ancient Greece or Rome.
* * * # #
We have considered before the appreciable emiir;ni between
the “Sonata Patbitique ’’and the two sonatas of Opus (4,
between the broad and more outward form of expmimon ami
the intimate, rather reticent one. This touches a point in the
history of the sonatas on which it is worth while clwellin/'
a little. Hitherto these piano sonatas had occupied a promi-
 K MAJOR, OPUS 14, NO. 1 49
ncni, almost a commanding place in Beethoveids production.
►Standing I K'rdi i * * I limn, in a chronologic al sense (l Ik* official
opus numbers cannot be taken as reliable In regard to the
thue when Beethoven’s works were written), t here am other
works lor piano, rsprc ially variations, our of his favourite
form?!, an we know, also some vocal pieces ami r:]iamIx^r music.
Then; are, comparatively speaking, few orehestral works, and
in view of the way in which Beethoven wan mttoduocd into
the mush al life of Vienna thin in easily understood. It was as
a pianist, and especially as one who performed his own com¬
position;!, that he was received ami appreciated in wealthy and
ar Is toe va 11 e j alons.
But now about the year 1800 then; is a change. Beet-
hoverds position as an artist is now firmly established, lie feels
that he has the power to achieve greater tilings, and he does
not care no mueh now about playing to wealthy and aristo¬
crat ie audiences; he turns, in works on a large scale, in, sym¬
phonies and piano concertos, to a wider audienee, to tin; largttr
and more mixed world of tin; concert-'room. One may say
with Paul Bekker, though it, is perhaps rather one-sided and
paradoxical, that Beethoven's art, after being exclusively
aristocratic, becomes more democratic. These; instrumental
weeks, from their very demands on orchestral, equipment, arc
planned for other surroundings than those of even the largest
salons of the Austrian magnates, for which Jlaydn for a long
time planned and wrote; Ids symphonies. In their subject-
matter and construction these works were written with a view
to winning, not a restricted number of connoisseurs, but the
sympathy and understanding of the entire musical public of
Vienna.
This change of front from salon to concert-room can be
traced in the piano sonatas. I/or a long while Beethoven was
still faithful to his favourite instrument- -indeed, during the
years 1800-6 the sonatas follow each other at but short intervals,
B
5o BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS

sometimes even several in the same year. Bat those sonatas,

written at about the same time as the piano son a tan, t he
C minor concerto, the second symphony and tint ** Kroieit,”
the first string quartet opus, etc., seem to divide* into two
directions, according to their form and the idea;) contained
in them. We get sonatas which, with their broad count ruction,
splendid execution, technical brilliance, with sometimes even
the Cadenza of the piano concerto, and with the various
prescribed parts in the well-known sequence, seem to turn to
the large public of the concert-room, and, on the other hand,
sonatas in which Beethoven has taken the piano into Bis inti¬
mate confidence, in the conscious or unconscious need of
turning his back on the brilliantly-lit concert-room. In order
to interpret within the four walls of his own room, or in the
circle of a few understanding friends, what he has at: heart,
or at any rate something that is not meant for the; tfreat ami
profane assembly which the concert-room has casually gathered
in. In sonatas like these he does not feel himself strictly
bound by tradition or forms that have been handed down ;
hence the suggestive title above two of these sonatas : u Quasi
una fantasia,” while a sonata of the other kind may just as
characteristically be called u Grande Senate/*
Now, of course, we cannot venture to nay, of the contrast,
between the style and character of these sonatas, that; .Beethoven
in an individual case was choosing one of the two directions. At:
the moment when the idea for them took shape, the musical
subject, not the thought of the place where they would be
performed, would be uppermost in his mind.
And even if it seems that a sonata, judging from the charac¬
ter of its fundamental themes, must be placed in one or the
other of these two groups, it may be difficult, owin# to its
musical working-out, to classify it definitely as a concert-
work or unconditionally as an intimate one, yet in tire main
outlines it is possible to adhere to this division in the attitude
and subject-matter of the sonatas. Amongst those essentially
 It FLAT MAJOR, OPUS 22 51

m contort style may In* reckoned nut h sonatas an Opus 22 in

B (lat major, Opus 37 No. 2 in I) minor, Opus 53 in C
major, Opus 57 in F minor, anti standing in the iirut: rank an
their contrast, Opus 2/, No. 1 in K Hat major, Opus 31, No. 3
in K Hat major, Opus 54 in I1’ major, Opus 78 in F sharp
major; in t In* same group one will aluo plane Opus 27, No. 2
from it a entire mood and .spiritual idea, event though the
Fin alt! beam tin* mark of the hand that wrote the piano
concerto!!.
The remainder of the sonatas form an intermediate group
(before Opmi 90). Those most approaching the concert style
seem to In* tin* A Hat major Opus 26 (in spite of the free placing
of tin* movements), the I) major Opus 28, the G major Opus 31,
No. r, and K Hat major Opus 81. (The small sonatas or the
sonatinas Opus 49 and 79 may, of course, be disregarded in
this ronnertiom)
0| ms 81, the “ Lebewohl sonata, brings us to 1809; in the
same year the piano concerto in K Hat major was published, and
this is the last of the piano as a concert instrument.
######
After this hurried glance over the succession of sonatas in
the decade 1799 1809 we return to our contemplation of the
individual sonatas in their chronological order.
'The sonata Opus 22 it) B Hat major lias been called by
Beethoven himself a u Grande Sona/e” and he sends it to the
publisher, I loffmeister, with, the words: u This sonata is a
corker, my dear fellow ” (“ hat sick gewaschen ”) ! The
Master,s satisfaction at; a tank well accomplished beams from
the jovial rematk—and yet his modest claim on the publisher
was only twenty ducats for thin sonata, which, as he added,
“ will command a bigger sale than both the larger works offered
put together ” Symphony No. 1 and the Septet).
With its four great movements, boldly swung passages, its
brilliant runs and rolling tremolos, Beethoven would consider
litis sonata a tit-bit for a pianist—and every artist-pianist will
52 BEETHOVEN'S SONATAS
agree with him* The character of this sonata, xtn Bright,
manly tone, its clearness, its dauntless and broad B Hat: at tuck,
place it as a matter of course amongst the concert souatus.
Yet a Beethoven would not have written it if it did nut contain
more pondering, brooding parts, such as, in particular, the
modulatory part of the first movement, in which, the Master,
in the course of the development of the theme, engages in all
sorts of modulatory twists and turns, called a bold 99 at that
time, apparently, as it had been said, “ placing the harmonic
element above the melodic."
In the Adagio the romantic sounds of a hunterh; born and
the dreamy moods of forest glades alternate with the splendours
of concert bravura. Beethoven directs it to he performed
con molt7 espressione. Is this because he feels there is an inner
lack of this in the music ? For a Beethoven Adagio one would
scarcely say that this movement is profound or charged with
strong personal feeling* The same is true of t he lit tie MenuaUo
with the secondary minor movement* The Final** too, is
mostly a sonorous piece, a graceful rondo rich In, pianist ic
brilliance and effects,and in variety of theme; now ami then,
as in the minor sections, a warmer and somehow more personal
feeling seems to emerge* The inventiveness with which the
leading theme, every time it returns, is introduced In a new
way can be traced back to Haydn, but Beethoven has developed
what he inherited further with great energy and ingenuity.
W. Nagel has pointed out a resemblance that is urn; slight
between the first theme of the Finale and the leading .subject
in a B flat sonata by Ernst W* Wolf (1735^92), a Vienna
composer who was very much in favour at that time :
Prince Carl Lichnowsky.
 II FLAT MAJOR, OPUS %% 53

.m< i i lunlni 11 j;i t tlrci hovm wan pro ha My acquainted wit It

WoIOi wmata, so that the resemblance h tint accidental*
Meanwhile, itn he addrs that there h no other resemblance
bet ween the two movement?;, one irt probably quite safe in
dinreguiding the pacing agreement, 'There in all the lew? reason
lo ;;et up this hutit lor “ resemblances ” between the Beethoven
sonatas and other earlier or contemporary ones and they
have been disregarded in the present work as certain themes
in those days might be (sailed common property, and the com¬
posers did not exa< tJy suffer from an overweening desire to be
original in this respeet, nor did Beethoven in Ins earlier years,
ft was not always in the invention of the theme itself, but in its
treatment and working-out, that genius and art might be
displayed.
One sided critic?; of the R flat; sonata, like L<mz and Marx,
have not had too min h difficulty in maintaining that in this
instate e Beethoven had not given much of his personality,
and that in the virtuoso element, lie had got. so much out of
his depth, that it appeared to fa* an end in itself. When,
however, tie* sonaia is justly regarded from the point of view
of (oieert work, there is hardly any reason to quarrel with
its t reator. Besides, it Is certainly harsh and unfair to say that
if Beethoven had continued along the same road on which he
was then going he would have ended as a second Hummel,
ft is a comfort, at any rate, that he did not remain on that
road I No one has ever dared to depreciate the technical
bravura in the C sharp minor sonata, in the so-called “ Wald-
stein n or in the F minor sonata, as serving virtuoso objects
/) hi tlummd 1
The sonata Opus 22, which was published in 1802, was
no doubt already composed in. 1800, that is to say, at the
same time m such comprehensive works as the first symphony,
tin*. Oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives, the C minor piano
concerto and others* The sonata is dedicated to Count
54 BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS
Browne, to whose beautiful consort the Opus to sonatas were
dedicated. That this sonata of Beethoven was one of those
most in favour and most frequently performed for a Ion;' while,
is easily understood, in view of its character and the prevailing
taste of that time.
 C’lIAPTKR VI

Tin, sonata < )pus %(> in A Hat major is roinarkalilc already in

ii*; r junior form : if < outains four freely arranged parts, one
ol vv h x It, on account of its < hanu ter, had uol previously been
considered suitable to a sonata. It begins with a net of varia¬
tions followed by a NtIwr'U), after wldeh comes tlx* innovation
(ami tlx* only one in Beethoven's sonatas); a funeral march,
ties* ribed in Italian as Marrut funt'hre udla Morte (Pun Eroe;
tin* last movement * onsists of a short /I IIt*/'to* Ilere tlx; usual
sonata scheme to which Beethoven had hitlx*rto kepi Is not; only
abandoned, but tlx* logical connection between the individual
parts seems t<» be very loose, or at least difficult to point out.
There if! ;;cmu* justification for railing thin sonata a forerunner
of the two u Quasi fantasia” sonatas of tlx* next Opus; in a
pertain sense this sonata, espe< ially its funeral tnareh in Aflat
rninot, c an, from the point of view of form, be; called even more
u fantastic ” than the* two that follow it.
In itself there is nothin/? new In beginning a sonala with a
set of vat iat tons; perhaps one* may <*ve*ti venture; to ana nine that
Mozart \s famous A major remain had inspired Beethoven to
begin in a similar manner. It is worth noticing that he intro-
<lure*d vacations just at this lime, because lie; was now par-
tienlarly interested in this form of art, in which he displayed
yreat skill anel inventiveness, About tlx; year t8oo he wrote
several works with varialIons and lx; was aware himself that In
this field also he* had created somethin/? new. In a letter to
Breilkopf ami llartel (of 1802) lie writes the following lines,
mgmfteant in bis psychology as a musician, as he mentions two
worki with variations which he has planned : u They are both
55
 56 BKKTHOVKN’S SONATAS

treated in a really new manner, and each in its own way. /

assure you that, you will nol regret 1 hrsr l wo wo ilia; cat h iln-iur
is treated by itself in a manner dill'ereni from the oilu-i.a.
Usually I only hear it-from others when. I hone new ideoi, os /
am never aware of it myself hut this time l do outs re you that
the style in loth is quite new and my own." S|>ontnneoiif!iie:«
and simplicity, as well as the iielf-eoniirioumieaa of genius, apeak
from these lines.
The variation movement of the A flat sonata shown to what
the Master refers. While Mozart weaves his A major vatia
tions round his theme and enriches it, with greater and greater
brilliance and ornament, Beethoven takes another course, so
that we do not see what there really is itt the theme until we
meet it in the variations. Tn regard to this movement a writer
has expressed it thus: The early composers started from
within and worked outwards; while Beethoven, beginning
from without, penetrates into the soul of the theme. keiue( ke
draws our attention to the fact that these variations will fill
their place as the first part of the sonata when they me played
without perceptible pauses and all in about the same tempo,
and Riemann adds that this tempo ought preferably to |,e
graceful Tempo di Menuetto.
Commentatiuncula—in usum Delphini is the title jdven by
Friederich Rochlitz to a delightfully wordy series of com¬
ments on these variations. Rochlitz was one of the most
prominent Beethoven enthusiasts of the day, and valued by (be
composer himself as an aesthete and poet. These comment!)
on the variations are to be found in Rochlitz’s periodhal h'tir
Freunde der Tonkunst, and appear as though written by an
elderly lawyer’s clerk from the remoter part, of Pomerania (i„
1806, that.is, a year after the publication of t|,e mrnata).
In the original review these “ Comments ” take up zH pagea*
and only a few short extracts can be given here - not only for
the sake of their quaintness (and because only few readers of
 A FLAT MAJOR, OPUS z6 57

those pages will have easy access to Kochi h?Ai review), hut in
order to show how commonplace and prosy, how soberly and
** resprt tably,11 even one who valued Brelhoveu’s work highly,
and thought ho understood It, could tLink of a commenting”
upon hia mush . Fveu though it may have boon his intention
to give a h timorous or iron it a I picture of tint supposed
4* commentator,’’ t his does not dint in oily appear.
The author makes the worthy old clerk recognise all his own
(very commonplace) life in the Beethoven variations, it*? exterior
events and the emotion?; they have produced in himself. As
art example of how In* doe:) (hi:;, and of the prevalent tone of the
Beetlioven interpretations of tlie tinn*, a few fragments are
given below :
u Thatur: The fmbjeet is given, the foundation, which is to
be further developed, A flat ; 3/4 time, serious rather than
cheerful, yet gentle, kindly and pleasant; moreover, not
larking in strength anti very promising in a modest; way.
Now look hm*e, Bernhard, I said to myself: It was just like
that, your foundation, that CJod had given you, that had to be
furl her developed. , . . Yes, thus did your Creator equip
you, and how great was His mercy! Thus did your stern
father support you and your devout mother nourish you, in
body and mind -and how lovingly! Well, well, it was not
much, but it, was good and it was your fundamental theme.
Now let us ask ; What has it become ? Beethoven’s variations
amwer clearly*

41 Variaiio L There is a theme, to be sure, but it is

dissolved in figures constantly changing, sunk into the
depths and driven up on the heights. I had reached
boyhood and been placed in the grammar school—the
theme was there, but dissolved in figures which looked quite
different. The good foundation was split up, scattered,
tom in piece® above and below. . . .
 58 BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS

a Variatio 11. Look, here is the theme n ! gallant

and splendid in the haw ! Ah, yes, il is myselj, as though
he had stolen my face out of the looking glass . . . I had
grown up, I was attending the University. Tin* lito of
freedom and independence, new to me, strengthened me
and bore me up; hut a monstrous conceit, pride and
defiance took possession of me.
<e Variatio III. ifeavy and melancholy, sad, as it were
downcast, this variation seems to move onward only with
difficulty ... at length dying away dully under the
burden of its many flats: A flat minor! ” (The explana ¬
tion that follows this, of the meaning of the seven fiats in
Bernhard’s life : poverty, poor examination result, failure
of literary attempts, etc., etc., is delightful to the verge of
the grotesque, but cannot be quoted further here.)
u Variatio IV. That was my state during the next
three weeks. There is hardly a word to he added to it.
Outwardly I was completely apathetic; hut, my .strength
worked all the harder from within.” . . « (Strange, that
this Scherzo-dike variation should he eoiisidered apathetir !)
u Variatio V. . . . It has a confiding, mobile rhanu ter :
both hands have plenty to do, and what they have in do
is closely connected. And what is the main thing?
You have only to look at the notes. After a short en¬
couraging prelude ” (evidently Roehlit/, had not dhi >
covered the half-hidden, theme in the* ehain of’ triplets)
u the fundamental theme follows note by note, in spite of
all that has happened in between . . , line upon line the
state is described there which has been the prevailing
one with me for close upon fifty years. 1 realised what,
my innocently happy, humble childhood had been, first:
in imagination, finally in being and doing. I saw now t hat
the first fundamental theme was not lost to me afW all
It came back again, note by note—and yet, how different !”
(All as in Beethoven’s music.)
 A FLAT MAJOR, OPUS z6 59
As in (Krili tluv;c well mc;m t, Icdiom; niul clit 11|l<ul comments
<>f) f hr va riutinmi nhow tin whai a gulf there wan between (hr
ymuig gcnuo and fhr time hi whirh hr lived, and which hr
had left far behind him !
The tt< hrr/.o inovniifii! in < I ear and concise, and typical of
Beethoven at tIda period. There in a gen tie, dreamy poetry
in fhr 'Trio, fin* expression of which point!) onward to the piano
ntylr ol Robert Schumann, of whom there u\ also a .suggestion
in the fourth variation. On the other hand, a passage in the
Sc/wrs,o foretells a corresponding place in the fifth, C minor
symphony, of whirh we are again reminded in the fifth variation,
where thr melody in the middle voice in woven into and
adorned by agitated figuration. Altogether it: will be interest¬
ing to look in the piano sonatas for hint ancon of forerunners of
the, great instrurnental works. It in quite natural that the
works written in the lenner eompann which in more eanily sur¬
veyed should contain ideas which can be found again, used in a
deeper form under larger conditions.
The u Funeral March ” above all has made this sonata
famous. It in said by Beethoven's pupil, Ferdinand Ries, to
have been inspired by an opera by Baer/ but thin in rather
improbable an the sketch of the sonata Opus z6 was begun before
Baer’s opera AdnlUs wan produced in Vienna, on which
occasion a funeral march certainly was a conspicuous success.
The din of battle, the (dash of arms, the deaths that Europe
It ad seen of so many heroes, might well quicken. Beethoven’s
imagination and appeal to his artist’s soul with, its particular
suseept ibilitien to political events (apart from an Italian opera
on a Viennese stage). The idea for the funeral march is evi¬
dently conceived as a piece of music for a military orchestra;
we recognise at the piano not only the various wind instruments,
# Fcrclttwmdb Fair (i77M$J9)» an Italian composer much in favour at that time,
the writer of numerous melodious operas, settled in Vienna in 1797 and remained
there for some years. With his Leonora he was, by the way, to cross Beethoven's
path later as an opera composer. According to an equally doubtful tradition the
rumour of Admiral Nelson's death (at AfeouBr) is said to have inspired Beethoven
with the idea of the funeral march.
 6o BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS
but also the mournful rolling of tins kettledrums Eor we arc
present at the obsequies of a fallen hero* fri so far wo again
have before us a precursor of a greater instrumental work:
the funeral march in the tc Eroica ” symphony, but if we listen
more closely we become aware of the difference. Here we
encounter mostly the external, mournful pomp only the burial
is presented to our view* In the “ Eroica ” there in a deeper
vision; there the whole tragic fate of the hero in brought
before our minds by the tones of tint funeral march.
It cannot be denied that the smoothly flowing final move¬
ment, flexible and lightly emotional, accords strangely with, the
gloom of the funeral march. It is difficult to find any connec¬
tion between the two pieces, unless one would perceive fleeting
shadows of the funeral march in the scattered minor pannages
falling on the bright major movement. 'The latter, which
is most like a Rondo (and somewhat like a study in its bearing),
is said by Czerny to have been inspired by corresponding pieces
in Cramer’s sonatas, especially an A flat major movement, which
really has some external resemblance to that of Beethoveidn
work in more than the key, and this opinion in supported by
Beethoven experts. But in that cane Beethoven han eertaitdy
ennobled and enriched what he may possibly have borrowed
from Cramer, One may probably venture to suppose that t bin
movement did not mean more to him than, a vivacious pianist ic
close of a sonata, in which it was necessary to efface or soften
the mournful impression of the funeral march. In that case it
seems to be taking matters too solemnly- nn some have
wanted to do—to comment upon it; with quotations from
Beethoven’s letters at this time, such as these : u Every day
I come nearer to the goal which I feel but cannot describe:
resting is out of the question,” or, “ A quiet life, no, I feud
that I am not made for that,”
The A flat major sonata is dedicated to the Prince Carl
Lichnowsky mentioned above, and therefore dates from a time
when the relations between the composer and his patron were
st fiiMiui of s Poimion of ‘rim MS, cm run A flat Major Sonata
(Op. Mi).

M'MMiim of a Portion of the MS. of tiib Sonata in A (Op. 101)

 A I*’IjAT MAJOR, OPUB z(> 61

;,t ilirji lie,i ; probably il w.ri |>ribuiuril lor the lint, time by
liedliuvcii ill t Ilf- urai.if I in If. Oil'* would jucfiunu* il lo bo
on,. ,,l lhr woikii irawlliiig limn on ;e.ion:i wlirn Uie composer
|il.iyrd iuiprnvin.it imi'i on the piano to such audiences an these,
lltll vvr Il.tvr IIO drliliitr informal ioll Oil till: Subject. 'I'lir,
I.oiiiila wan | >uliliuli<*« 1 in Man b I Hoi and wan announced an
a “(irandr Somite,” Perhaps thin title wan given by the
|iublii.brr, but no doubt with Beethoven’;) approval, and, as
indicated above, l lie sonata belong!) mainly to those meant for
the (onrert room. In the sketch-book it is, as a rule, called
“Sonata pour M.” or “ fur M.” Jt is not known who is
meant by thin; but it looks as though the work wan originally
intended for someone other than the Prince; and that the
< lianges in Beethoven's moods, which were not rare, caused
him to alter bis decision in favour of Prince Lidmowsky. The
funeral man h is sure to have created a great sensation, especially
when intei preted by tbe master band ol Beethoven himself.
It < mild be understood at once by all, and on everyone it must;
have made a deep impression. The aristocratic ladies would
again mirrmmd and admire the young genius, his performance,
and the beautiful brow from which such a workof art hadspruttg.
Perhaps it was on an occasion like this that; Beethoven answered
a lady who could not. restrain her languishing admiration for this
brow, in these words,Kiss it then, since it is so beautifull

There is a handsome facsimile edition of this sonata from

Beethoven’s manuscript (Pr. Cohn, Publisher, Bonn, 1895);
printed at the instance of the late Erich Prieger, a wealthy
amateur and musical scholar. A page of this MS. is given
facing page 60, as a life-like impression of Beethoven’s music
handwriting. This edition is also interesting in not quite
agreeing with the editions of the sonata generally published.
The difference is not seen in the most important part, the
actual notes, yet there is one thing which was far from unim¬
portant to the Master: the expression signs. They differ
 6z BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS

slightly in the way in which they are employed from those we

find in the ordinary printed editions. This raises the question :
were these alterations made by Beethoven himself when
reading the proof-sheets of the sonata f It would seem prob¬
able, especially as we have instances in which the Master
elsewhere corrected his work up to the last, even when in the
printer’s hands; the sonata Opus 106 (Adagio) is a famous
example of this and will be dealt with in its own place. The
further question, then, is : Do the corrected proofs of Beet¬
hoven’s works exist, and, so far as we are concerned, those
of his piano works, as these proof-sheets—the most authentic
witnesses of Beethoven’s thoughts—would often he of great
interest ?
So far as we know, the Beethoven literature, though it Is
immense, contains nothing that might enlighten us on this
point. The present writer therefore made inquiries of two
authorities of the first rank in musical research in Germany,
Professor Dr. Max Friedlandcr and Professor Dr. Max SeilFett.
Unfortunately the result was negative. The iwo music
historians were unable to throw any light: on the subject, j hut
they were both of opinion that the proof-sheets in question
must unfortunately be presumed to have been destroyed,
and so irrecoverably lost. Max Eriedlander writes on this
matter: “ Druckabzuge von Bcethovensehcn Werken mit
eigenhandigen Korrekturen des Metisters lusher so gut wie
niemals bekannt worden sind. Aclmliches i.rifft, leider, loider
auch auf die Werke Haydns, Mozarts, Schuberts und vieler
andem Komponisten zu. Es gdbeirte ebun zu den iiblen
Traditionen der Vorleger solche Korrekturabzugo einfacb zu
vernichten.” *

* Prints of Beethoven's works with corrections in hin own handwriting have

u faIh»rd 7 eVCo vee? PubI“hcd- Th“ i* unfortunately also true of t he works of
Haydn, Mozart, Schubert and many other composers. There in even a ba«l tradition
amongst publishers, following which rough-proofs were simply destroyed.”—Tr.
 C1IAPTUR VII

'Tin nanie-i of two huhV'i of lilt' great world of Vienna are

bound up Willi Bert I JO VOJi’n OptlS V//, wll idl of two
M»naU% fin* u banta.du ” .or>na<ao in K Hat major and C sharp
minor. ' FI * !o h explained by (In* fact that tin* sonatas originally
appeared separately, each with its own dedication. Tin: lint
dedu alum, o| t he K flat mod a la, to Signora Prlncl pttnmt (Jiovanni
Lichtenstein* due?? not convey much, beyond a token of courtesy
<m tli«* part cd tin* composer towards a musically interested
relative of bin benefactor in the early clay?; at Bonn, Count
Waldstrui. We* know but. little of any further connection
between Beethoven and the Princess, still leas of that; between
tin* uuir.it and the dedication, and nothing can be gathered
from the work itself,
fake itfi sister sonata in CJ sharp minor, thin one begins with,
a movement (shut ante) wide h is not in 11 to traditional form, and
whic h, even in the description (/nan mm fantasia -us a pecu¬
liarly conn!meted piece, the 1C flat major section of which
breathe?! forth a mrange joy of the Mend; itas delicate tone is
<characterised by the freeptent /> and fifi. If oner triers to find a
spirit ual c ounce tion bet weeti thia piece and tins conditions of
life in which it arose* together with the* G sharp minor sonata
in 1801 (published 1802), one in involuntarily leal to think of a
gentle dream of mutual love. The form is that of the hied,
a single phrase, the: mont heartfelt in the whole movement,
rungs out all it« depth of feeling, and occurs only once, as though,
timidly fearing to repeat this outburst. At; the same time this
shown a prodigality not usual in a Beethoven, composition, as
the phrase is not worked out, indeed the composer does not
return to it in the whole course of the Andante.
$3
 ..

64 BKKTIIOVKN’S SONATAS

Thismovementh;usbeen found iitfiignifhant, not quite worthy

of Beethoven (Lenz, KUerleiu), and according to Ricmaiui t hi
is due to the first, somewhat s( iff I heme, which has even been
called 66 commonplaced’ In Bccthovcnl defence, Rhunaim
maintains that the fault, lies with the reader of the theme, a-; it
looks when read straight from Berthovrnl witting of it.

$_j j J J 2 J ,J 1 2 2 A I i'J -N J
In order to rescue it from triviality and endow it with u an
attraction even particularly intimate,” Riemann would lead
it thus;

»j'-j-Lj-.'j
II
- jTj ■fJTT'j'jZ'Tj
It

Now this is bound up with the whole of Riemann1?] pr< uliar

“ method of phrasing,” the diseuslon of vvhic h v\ oumide i hr
scope of these pages. But: in there 1 rally any doubt that
Beethoven thought and fell the theme in the arnv* in whu h
he wrote it, and that he did not feel it, to be a t liviality, ?;n< h a?i
it appears m the accompanying bass figure i In t he veiy next
section it is already difficult to undenitand the ?;amr theme in
Riemann’s sense, and to Beethoven, the two flection'] mint have
been rhythmically identical Nor does the re shaping of the
theme in the fourth section as Beethoven writer it ;

-mi j,. j- rm j i

seem to support Riemann’s view.

Against the gentle, scarcely breathed K flat nation, there
is another, more “ earthly ” one in C major. Willi it;; ra:,y
flight in the beginning it may well he interpret rd ati indeed
it has been—as a triumphant fooling of IiappineM and thu» he
understood as a fresh expression of amoroua feeling,a; hut, thin
 C SHARP MINOR, OPUS 27, NO. 2 65

hi'iplml*11 ,<!t!titm <laCH ™ 1,1X01 t0 be Particularly

I lit; invalid movement is ;i Scherzo in the true Beethoven
manner, wil li all il;i weal ill of rhythmic inventiveness, of
mysterious dim mood and radiant: humour. This is followed
• without any intervening pause, as Beethoven expressly wishes
U, probably in agreement: with the fantasia-character of the
sonata by an equally Bcethovencsque Adagio. This is again
a kmd of Lied, wistful and sad, but. harmonious and clear as
. day. The immediate impression is that of a slow and
independent movement, but: its dreaming is suddenly broken
ofl by 1 lie buoyant vivacity of the Finale, in which the Adagio
a/piin appears an a memory towards tlie end of tin* sonata. As
Riemann has aptly said, the Finale is made up of a number of
tiny stones into a dainty mosaic. The roots of its second subject
go so far back as the Bonn quartet that was the foundation
ol the first movement in the C major sonata, Opus 2 ! There
is really no melodic development in this movement, and in its
/ray transparency one is more aware of the sparkling play of
sound and the unerring hand of the Master than of any message
from his soul.
I he unity which is a feature of ihe C sharp minor sonata,
and taises it to such an exalted position, will be sought for in
vain in this sister sonata in 1C flat, nor has this the depth and
richness of poei ie feeling of the former. Regarded as a whole,
the impression given by this sonata is rather that of a certain
unrest, as an experimental attempt to find, a new form of
expression.
**#####
Tim second sonata, in C sharp minor, takes us at one stroke
into Beethoven’s love story. The music speaks loudly of it,
and from other sources we can, at any rate to a certain extent,
supply the missing details of what it tells us; the sonata is
dedicated to Damgella Contessa Giulietta Guicciardi, and
Beethoven’s relations with thin young Julian countm can oven
be elucidated by his own words. . tl . ,
Two well-known statements about thin love of Beethoven a
have been preserved. One depicts him at. having a chaste
nature, far removed from sensual passion, wind, was even
unknown to it. Seyfried writes: “Strange to say, Beethoven
never had a love affair.” The other statement, .s a flat, con¬
tradiction of the first: “Beethoven was always ... love with
someone, and as a rule in a violent decree.” '1 ].<•:;<• words are
Wegeler’s, and he claims as witnesses Stephan Brcunmg, I’erdi-

nand Ries and other friends. The latter ointment is doubtless

nearest the truth, hut in the main as little is known of the
„v,wts of Reethoven’s affections as of the nature of t he Master’s

feelings. , ,
It has been said in an earlier chapter that he seems to have
passed through a Werther period with its 1 oo sensit i ve d ream in, r,
but it is quite certain that his heart was not altogether and
everywhere dominated by feelings of this kind. It has been
said elsewhere of his love affairs that they seldom absorbed him
for very long, and according to the. few and scattered accounts
available, some of them were of a transient and not. exactly
hallowed character. These women quickly passed before his
view; for a shorter or longer while he would extract, some
pleasure from being with them, and allow it to inspire his
artist’s imagination, yet they seem to have left no deeper
impression or lasting memory in his mind. At times lie would
seek and find women friends in the aristocratic circles in Vienna,
into which he was introduced early in his life. Whether his
relations with them were platonic and visionary or whether
his affections were really involved, it is impossible to say now.
We only know that Beethoven was ffiled to the point of hysteria
by these ladies. At other times he found them in a lower
sphere: thus Ferdinand Ries once surprised Beethoven in
ardent talk with a young and beautiful lady, for whose forgive-
 c SHARP MINOR, OPUS 27, NO. 2 67
!r'krm7 y pleading, and at BccUlW#
;,m,r • ?• Rl<!S ,liad ,tu “company the conversation with
E’r!r I’"8 °’i‘ " l”aUM ! ft limUid out that ^e young
Ma ter dul not know even tin- lady’s name or her position
,, ,K; < <',hl,<X'U,t'^ C0Ina,al hh knowledge!), and Ries
‘ f' . ' , ‘‘ ? <nmd out atcr l,ut she was the mistress of one
f the foreign amWlom^-Bccthoven had a quarrel with the
I-nglnih. violinist Brulgetower (a mulatto) about “ a girl,” and
t us cost his rival the dedication of the violin sonata which has
now become famous under the name of Rudolph Kreutzer.
, n.',at<'i tl,at wlllI<: he was lodging in the house of
a tailor wn h three extremely pretty daughters, his great Master
m < d him very frequently! There are some indications then,
Uiat inn ardent temperament was at times not very fastidious
in regard to amorous affairs. This light view of the passion
of bwe accords well enough with the spirit of the time, which
on (he whole did not take a sentimental or serious view of the
relaiions between men and women. And though Beethoven’s
r,,UB 10 fi"** temporal things, in many
human ways he was and could not help being a child of the age.
Yet one need only quote a single one of Beethoven’s free-
spoken ut teranees to feel how remote he is from the mere love
of pleasure without any deeper feelings, characteristic of this
fX’nod. He says: “Sensual pleasure without union of the
souls Id and always will he an animal one, it leaves behind no
noble feelings whatever, only remorse.” One feels, though,
tlmt he speaks about this remorse from experience.
Nor is there any doubt that Beethoven had a visionary
1?“ ult;aI; kVorn his letters and the tone poetry of his
bidelio ” it is clear that he had his dreams of marriage and
saw its deep moral significance for man and woman.
Now Beethoven s relations with Giulietta Guicciardi are
amongst those of which we know a little more than the others.
This young Italian girl, who was of a noble family, came
68 BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS

with her parents to Vienna from Trieste, ami Beethoven m«t

Ter at the house of her relatives, the. Brunswick*. She became
his pupil in piano playing and remained so for at any rate about
twoPyears. His interest was quickly aroused m tins young
Italian beauty, who was only about sixteen or seven ecu years
old • about her expressive features, it has been said, there was
often a tinge of melancholy.* Mutual feehngs soon arose.
What this meant to Beethoven can be seen in his letter to
Wegeler of November 1801, in which he writes that after having
been a misanthropist, he has now become sociable, and that this
change has been caused by “ a dear, charming girl, who loves
me, and whom I love. I feel for the first time that marriage
might make me happy. . . • Unfortunately she is not of my
station-find anyhow I could not marry at present; I must still
see a good deal more of life.” ,. ,
What do these words mean? And what were Cnubcm
feelings? Was she only a forward little flirt, slightly in ove
with and enraptured by the great Master; flattered by Ins
attentions, which he would hardly attempt to conceal m the
presence of her aristocratic relatives ? Ancl did Beethoven at
an early stage suspect this ? Or was it Giulictta, who bad an
inkling that she was, after all, only for a time Beethovens
“ flame ”—the slang term in those Viennese sets for Beethoven s
love affairs-who could for the present “ inspire ” him ? Or
did she, or perhaps rather her parents as practical Italians, soon
begin to think of more substantial prospects for her future ?
No definite material giving the answer to these questions has
been handed down to us. All the sentiment that has been
wrapped round this relationship is of no real value.
Nor, in spite of countless writings, has an absolute and
definite decision been arrived at as to whether that famous
Beethoven letter which is called, from an expression used in it,

• The picture given here, probably the only one in existence, and far from
distinguished, does not seem to give one much idea of her appearance.
 c: SHARP MINOR, OPUS 27, NO, a 69

a to the immortally beloved ” (die unsterblidie (Jelieble), is

writ Uni to (iiuliet la Guiceiardi or to someone else.
The lot u*r, which wan found amongst Boot hoven’s effects, was
writ ton in pencil, in t hr<*a parts, each with, its own date, but
without mention of the year, ft: is a beautiful, poetic piece of
writing, the outburst of a storm-tossed mind, after the manner
ol Wert Iter’s notes, more poetic, more literary in form than
Beethoven’s other letters, about the form of which, he was, as
a rub*, not, imirh concerned. Beethoven was not and did not
wish to be a writer in the same sense as later musicians, such as
Weber, Schumann and Warner, except; in this one instance in
which he, was more than a writer, in fact a poet. The highly-
st rung rhapsodic air of t his letter seems in, a way to remind one
of the accounts we have of Beethoven’s improvisations and
*vv tint/wr^ fantasias at, (lie piano.
The letter semes never to have been sent; at any rate nothing
is known about it. It can hardly have been sent in the form
in which it was left by Beethoven, but, as we see, he kept the
letter as a treasure in a secret drawer of his writing-table.
The faded paper fell out: when bis relatives, the instant he had
closed bin eyes in death, instituted a ghoulish hunt for papers of
value which the ageing, suspicious and dose-handed Beethoven
kept, in the same secret drawer. A proof of what this letter
meant: to him !
The contention about this letter has set many pens in
motion ; it has even produced a forged letter, which has been
published as a coat in nation of the genuine one. The main
object of this strife has been to prove that A. Schindler was
wrong in designating Giulietta Guicciarcli as “ the immortally
beloved.” Who the latter was, in that case, lias been a matter
of great: dispute among the learned, who have fought manfully
about it. Theresa Brunswick, her sister Josephine, afterwards
Countess Deyrn, Marianna Willmann, Bettina Brentano, Amalie
Sebald and perhaps others have each had their own champion.
7o BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS

The best equipped of these knights is the American, Thayer,

author of the great Beethoven biography, who was the, first Vo
pull the wreath from Giulietta’s dusky locks in order to plane
them on the not quite so beautiful ones of Theresa Brunswick.
Yet this victory was not final, but most students now seem to
be uncertain or to have given up trying to solve the problem.
Now, if, instead of following a precedent and studying old
almanacks, lists of travellers, of visitors at watering-places and
visitors’ books, and undertaking other praiseworthy and tire¬
some labour of this kind, one simply keeps to the letter (or the
draft of the letter) as it has been found, its contents and its
appearance, there still seems to be something to support the
sharply contested view of Schindler, that is, that the letter was
intended for Giulietta. First of all tliere is this point: that
the C sharp minor sonata, which was dedicated to Giuliett a in
1801, speaks the very same undulating, rapt,pain-filled language
as the letter; while the F sharp major sonata, Opus '/«, dedi¬
cated to Theresa Brunswick in 1810, is written in quite
another, placid, gently graceful style, as elaborate as filigree
work; there is not a hint in it of a passionately perturbed mind,
unhappy or blissful.
Further, the whole style of the letter is much more like that
of a young man of about thirty than of one who has advanced
ten years further on the road of life.
Finally, it seems—a point which has, strange to say, been
missed by the large number of students of this subject ’that
the very appearance of this piece of writing is in favour of its
having been written at an earlier date. This is a point on which
experts in handwriting should be able to express an exact
and definite opinion; but everyone who has a slight acquaint¬
ance with Beethoven’s life and person knows that his hand¬
writing, which was certainly never beautiful nor legible—it
was characteristic of a genius!—in the course of time became
more and more “wild,” “unrestrained,” regardless of form
 c SHARP MINOR, OPUS 27, NO. 2 71
and line, and to an unpractised eye often quite unreadable. In
1 Ida letter, however, the writing in in the beginning—for a
lieetlioven quite dear, careful, almost dainty and not diffi¬
cult to read. A handwriting expert, would quite certainly not
attribute! the Unit palest to Beethoven’;) later years. It is true
that, this “ distinct ” writing ceases on the next pages of the
letter. As ihe mood grows upon him, as the blood courses
more quickly through his veins, and lie is more violently swayed
by his feelings, the next pages, written on two consecutive days,
become more atul more “ Beethoven,” and the writing very
difficult, to decipher. But, surely this cannot displace the time
when the letter was written ; and it seems to be a reasonable
explanation that we have before us a draft of a letter (which
was perhaps never sent) or possibly even a lyrical effusion in
letter form, which was never intituled, to be sent. Beethoven
would therefore, soon after tint neat beginning, abandon good
bandwriting and legibility, as after all lie was only writing for
bis own sake, and take, ilm paper into bis confidence as he
bad so often taken the piano. A great deal, in this much-
discussed document, in Beethoven’s life seems to support the
view that, it may date from the same time as the C sharp
minor «onata.
Yet, whether the letter was a beautiful poem to the immor¬
tally beloved, conceived in lonely dreams of her, and never
reaching her, or whether it really was sent, and who the right
addressee was in that case, is a question which will probably
novor Ik; aolvccL
()n t he other hand, we stand on firmer ground when we ask
about Giulietta’s later relations with Beethoven and about her
subsequent fate. We know that she abandoned her—more or less
deep—love for him, as she married a Count Wenzel von Gallen-
berg in 1803. In him she had a husband of her own station (cf.
Beethoven’s letter to Wegeler, mentioned above), and, more¬
over, one who was a composer into the bargain, though he was
72
BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS

only a composer of dance music. Count Gallenbcrg wrote

ballet music and was a theatre contractor. He did not belong
to the great—and wealthy—nobility, and In: arul (Jiulietta
seem to have led a Bohemian sort of life. A few years after the
marriage they were in Italy; later the Count (about 1820) had
a share in the management of the Court opera together with a
well-known impresario named Barbaja. He now and then
had business relations with Beethoven, who, however, did not
care for him. As director of the Karntnertor Theatre in
Vienna he became bankrupt (1829), again went to Italy as ballet
composer and theatre manager, and died in Home in 1839*
Giulietta was not happy with her music Count, but she would
probably not have made Beethoven the ideal wife of his dreams.
At any rate she developed into something of an adventuress.
In Naples she was the mistress of the well-known writer and
man of pleasure, Prince Puckler-Muskau; he mentions her,
in respectful phrases however, as “ the most beautiful woman
in Naples.” She survived her husband, dying so late as 1856,
it is believed in Vienna. Being questioned in her old age, about
her relations with Beethoven, she answered with reserve, only
speaking of him as her tutor, and even then reluctantly,
at least without affection or warmth.*
But from Beethoven himself we have a remarkable statement
about their mutual relations. He had certainly not forgotten
her. In 1823, when Count Gallenbcrg was director of the
Karntnertor Theatre, A. Schindler was in communication with
him on behalf of Beethoven, and this led to a significant con¬
versation in writing between the Master and his “ familiar.”
Beethoven was now totally deaf and writing was his only
means of communication with the world around him. These
* The great pianist, Edward Fischer, has related to the author that an old Viennese
gentleman once told him about a conversation he had had with the old Countess.
On this occasion she spoke of Beethoven as one who had composed some H crazy **
music, but in her Viennese manner she added, “ But his playing—it was heavenly l ”
A characteristic statement, which again shows from what angle these circles regarded
and admired Beethoven—that is, as a piano virtuoso.
 (’. SHARP MINOR, OPUS zy, NO. z 73

conversations were written down in a book kept for the purpose,

anti we thus lmve a written record of the words that were
exchanged between Recthoven and Schindler. They seem to
have hail their “ lalk ” in a public place; for this reason
Reel hoveir wlio wan growing more and more suspicious—also
wrote bin answers, a lhint; he very seldom did, and this dialogue
therefore possesses a completeness and actuality not otherwise
found in t he conversation books. Beethoven’s answers are given
in French ; thin bus been regarded, justly or unjustly, as a
further sign of suspicion. May it. not have been a remembrance
of the language often used by the young Master and his fair
pupil f
Schindler writes (to Beethoven) : He (Callenberg) did not
make me think very highly of him.
Beethoven : 1 was It is unseen benefactor through others.
(It is not known what is intended by this remark; probably
Recthoven on various occasions induced bis influential friends
to give the Count: financial help for Giulietta’s sake, and,
I (linking of her, he adds :) She cared very much for me, mow
I han she ever did for her husband, i lo was always my enemy
and that was the very reason I did all that I could for him.
(A thoroughly “ Recthoven ” utterance!)
Schindler : 'I'llat was probably why lie said to me, He is an
in sufferable person !• .most likely out of pure gratitude!
Though may the Lord forgive them, for they know not what
they do !
Presently the talk turned to the Countess.
Schindler : Was she rich ? Is she still beautiful ? Is it long
since site was married to Count Callenberg f
Beethoven: Her maiden name was Guicciardi. (These
words : die Halt nee G. . . . are written with unusual neatness
and distinctness and a curved line is drawn about the whole
sentence. 'Phis can hardly be called accidental when one
knows what this name once meant to Beethoven. It is as
 74 BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS

though he had dwelt a little on it in the conversation and had

drawn a memorial wreath about the name that was once so
dear to him,—The beginning of the next sentence, written in
the Master’s hand, is not easy to decipher—it concludes thus:)
When she came back to Vienna, she came to me in tears, but I
despised her.
Schindler; Hercules at the parting of the ways!
Beethoven: If I had cared to spend my energies on such a
life (underlined by Beethoven; do the words mean “ in an
unhappy marriage,” or “ as her lover,” which the expression
“ despised,” used immediately before, might suggest ?), what
would be left then, for the nobler, the better. . . ?
These are Beethoven’s significant, parting words to Giulietta,
on whom he had bestowed the C sharp minor sonata !—
If we now turn with this knowledge, fragmentary though it
is, to the sonata itself, we shall understand it better, and its
deep resigned pain, its turbulent passion, will speak to us more
distinctly and impressively than ever. There cannot be any
"doubt that this music was conceived in deeply stirred hours
in the life of the Master, and that it is the spon tancous expression
of the pain of a newly inflicted wound, rather than the dwelling
on the memories of it in the imagination. Not least is this
true of the Finale, which rushes on like a storm of passion and
speaks an unusually living and u actual ” language. A further
proof that we have before us an immediate, spontaneous and
unreflecting outburst of the soul seems to be indicated by the
absence of any sketches for this sonata—in contrast to nearly
all the others. It does not seem to have come into existence,
like so many earlier and later ones, piece by piece, often at
different times, but to have sprung from Beethoven’s brain—
and heart—in one mighty whole. The fact that it is less
“ worked-out ” (thematically, contrapuntally) than many of
the other sonatas, points in the same direction. It is painted al
fresco in broad, impressive, violent and easily discernible lines.
 c SHARP MINOR, OPUS zy, NO. z y5
Sonic there are who have shrugged their shoulders at the
“ romance” that has thus been put into the C sharp minor
sonata. Yea, that in quite true, one can enjoy the music and
feel enriched by it without this---hut after all the romance is
there. Beethoven himself wrote the name “ Fantasia” above
t he sonata, and everyone can and must read the meaning con¬
voyed in it.
But to those who read this tone poem with imagination and
understanding, the singular character of the erotic element
in it will have a further appeal. The sensuous expression of
love as it is ofien found, for instance, in the music of Mozart
and Schubert, in rare in that of Beethoven, but not even this
sonata, sprung directly from a love relationship, speaks the
language of passion in music. Beethoven, who shunned all
loose talk, and condemned it; in others, is delicate in not reveal¬
ing anything about the object of his love. We can at least
get a glimpse of Aloysia and Constance in Mozart’s music, and
Schubert, tells us a little, here and there about the charming
women who ruled his heart, but there is not the slightest hint
of (Jiulietta in the C sharp minor sonata ! It is concerned with
Beethoven with the turmoil of his manly soul, his melancholy
and his great struggles. One might say, perhaps, it is con¬
cerned with the super-sensuous erotic love of a genius.
The popular and well-known name given later to this sonata
was that of the “Moonlight Sonata.” Beethoven himself
never called it that. The name was given to it by a poetising
music-writer named Rellstab, an enthusiast, by the way, in
spreading abroad the fame of Beethoven. The first movement
reminded him of a moonlight evening at the Lake of Geneva !
that was how people in those days loved to characterise music;
the moonlight name was eagerly seized upon by publishers
and printers, and, alas ! to this day it is often put on concert
programmes. Undoubtedly the sonata owes no small part of
its fame and popularity to this title.
 76 BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS

Perhaps it cannot be denied that; there in a certain nocturne

mood in the Adagio sosUnuto of the, first movement, Imt in the
profound, human subject, manly in its pain, umieutimental in
its expression, it is certainly rather far from most; music
nocturnes. And the following lines will show how far astray
this moonlight and nocturne idea can lead a commentator who
is both intelligent and well-informed : “ The moonlight; lieu
upon the water like a lane of quivering gold, leading on to the.
land of our dreams. We sit in the boat together, in close
embrace, and listen to the murmuring song of the waves as we
glide along the golden path, further and further into the
unknown land. It cannot be described - -we can only listen),
only feel . . .” and then there are even (nnfortinnately) a
couple of lines from a verse of Novalis. So .far, then, may a
false, sentimental title of this sonata lead. Where, in this
interpretation, is the lonely Master, sitting with bowed head
at the piano and confiding to his instrument his great, deeply
breathing elegy ? Where, not least, are the. bitter :t< cents that.
several times break the monotony of the mournful solilocpiy?
The movement of this sonata has nothing whatever to do with
idylls or sentimentality.
To mention briefly one more commentary of this Adagio,
there is one which contends that the sonata was inspired hy a
poem called Die Beterin written by Seumo, who was not in the
first rank of poets. The subject of it, the prayer of a young
girl that her father may be restored to health, might possibly
have aroused some sympathy in Beethoven, and it. in said that
he wrote something of the kind to the poet. But: the let ter,
which no longer exists, certainly dates from quite another time,
and altogether this commentary looks very improbable.*
This “song without words ” might look rather strange, as
the first part of a sonata which has not the features of sonata
P°Pular ‘°°ata *!ad .till one more name in curlier day»: I>ic Unlirn-Somile
L. leafy,ona*a w*“ich, however, only alluded to the arbour in which licethoven
was supposed to have written it I
 SHARI' MINOR, OIMJS 27, NO. 2 77

lonn, ami probably the iutrodm tion had no small share in the
lith-Kantasia ” which Beethoven gave to his Opus 27. This
int rudin 1 ion i.'i followed by tIn-, little AUey/ettO'"-standing be-
tween 1 In- melancholy of tin* //tlayio and t lie tumultuous passion
ol' I In: Final? “like a flower between two abysses” That is
I t’.'i delicately poetical delinilioti of the piccc—which, how¬
ever, doe:; not. in any way explain the psychological connection
be! ween the three parts of the sonata. J he subject of the
sonata is contained in the first and last movements, but the
work recpiired a contrast, both psychologically and artistically, a
cent re of calm between the two C sharp minor storms, the one
oppressive and the. other clamorous. Beethoven purposely
calls the movement Alleyretto, not Scherzo, notwithstanding its
o'uter resemblance, to the latter form. He cannot and does not
wish to provoke, any Scherzo mood here; the movement seems
rather 10 be an unassuming, almost anxious attempt to awaken
some confidence in a happier destiny, some little hope of
interior harmony, but it in only short-lived and the attempt does
not succeed. The Finale breaks in upon it without a pause,
like the beat of a tremendous wave,* sweeping away the gentle
I) Hat, or, if one prefers, the C sharp major mood of the
Allegretto, and in the last, movement of the sonata there is again
fought that “ fight against fate” so frequent and violent in
Beethoven, especially in the years of hi* manhood. > _
j ir ciocn not roach any major clone in tins work ; pam is still
wringing his heart too much, he cannot tear himself from its
grasp' cannot, as he said himself, “ seize fate by the throat.

* Tl.r Wmiiinr of the Finale involuntarily give* the imprewion of a rUbg

issacssisri:
question in thin Manner.
 78 BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS

One feels again that the experience in too recent -the Master
has not reached the lofty detachment of a (Joellie. Yef
although this stupendous despair demands our deep sympathy
we do not hear the wild torrent of sound wiih disquiet or with
oppressed anxiety. For not only is the passion in itself so
beautiful and its artistic expression so proudly restrained and
manly, but the bright spirit, the melodious flight, and not least
the rhythmical power in this piece of music do not leave us in
doubt for one moment that the Master will not, succumb to
his suffering or his grief. Inactive brooding in unknown to
him—he will rise hardened, doubly strong through his pain ami
the artist’s fate that has been allotted to him.
Besides, the C sharp minor sonata had to close on t he gloomy
minor notes by which it is almost wholly dominated. Whet her
the rupture with the object of his adoration had occurred when
he wrote his music about it, or whether lie only suspected its
near approach, the scorching pain at tearing himself away from
her as from a fair hope, a lovely dream, was upon him. What
this dream has held the C sharp minor sonata does not tell us,
but perhaps, as indicated earlier, we may be allowed to read
about it in the first fantasia sonata in K flat major in any case
in its first movement and in the Violin Sonata in F major .
about contemporaneous with the sonatas of Opus 27 the so ■
called “ Spring sonata ” with its happy, joyous and lively move ■
ment. Such a pyschological duality is far from being unique
in Beethoven. It has been thought that there is a connection
between the C sharp minor sonata and the next one, Opus 28,
the Pastoral Sonata.” I here are no external proofs to sup¬
port this view, yet it cannot be rejected altogether as ground ¬
less, when one remembers the Master’s consoling words in t he
letter to the “ immortally beloved ” : “ Oh, God ! look out
upon the beauty of nature and calm thy mind before that which
must be so ! ”
 CIIAPTKR VIII

'I'm,; omn.a Opus 28 was written in the same year as the

C sharp minor, .Beethoven apparently following his usual custom
in having both work:', in hand at the same time. This would
also seem to confirm the thought suggested in the previous
chapter, that: there is a certain interior connection between the
two sonatas.
'Hie 1) major sonata was called the “ Pastoral," not by the
composer himself, but by the publisher, Cranz, of Hamburg.
In thin case the title seems to have been a happy choice and a
justified advertisement. We really find here a perfectly calm,
haittinnious and brightly optimistic mood, an even temper, a
thankful joy, all of which there is good reason to attribute to
Beethoven’s marked love of Nature and to his deep, personal
enjoyment of it. Kven the minor of the Andante sings in
tniies of exalted calm, and soon this slow piece glides into gay,
almost playful I> major strains, reminding one of the enlivening
twitter of birds and effacing the impression of the more serious
minor preceding it. When a writer suggests that there ts an
allegory in this movement, the beasts of the forest following
the dead hunter to his last resting-place: the funeral m a
minor and the song of birds in a major key, with the joy of the
animals that they are safe from their enemy now-one cannot
but wonder at the results arrived at by an eager, inventive and
“ poetic ” interpretation of absolute music.*
■ In the announcements this sonata again was called Cjrande
Senate,” and, as stated earlier, it must in the mam be classed
* According to Czerny thi. wa. for a long time the Ma.ter*. favourite piece, which
he played often and willingly.
79
 8o BICJiTf lOVKN’S SONATAS

amongst those written for the concert••room. It in dedicated

to Joseph von Somtenfels, “ Comieiller auliqur,” Secretary to
the Academy of Fine Arts. Thu dedication docs not tell us
much. It seems to have been an act of courtesy towards a
man who held a high position in the art world of Vienna, and
who would no doubt-—elderly and influential an In* wan be
able to give the comparatively young composer help or support,
or perhaps he had shown him understanding, sympathy and
interest. None of the Beethoven biographers seem to know
of any closer connection between the two men. Sormenfels, a
highly gifted man of Jewish family, lmt himself a Christian,
was, however, a prominent personality in Aunt rian educational
schemes, and was occupied particularly in tlu: improvement of
scenic art. It is well known that Beethoven was very interested
in and influenced by the humanitarian mum-men ( in t bin age of
enlightenment. Can it have been in thin held that; the two
spirits met ?
The sonata is said to have been composed during one of
Beethoven’s many sojourns in the country, probably at I letzen -
dorf. We arc told that it arose out of a (transient) happy love
affair, but nothing further is known about it, unless the source
of inspiration is to be found in the relations with (Jiulietta,
though it is not love exactly that breathes from I Iris music. 11;
seems rather, as remarked before, as though its writer had sought
refuge from far too agitating emotions in the peace of Nature.
The love of Nature was a prominent feature in t lie character
of this genius. He never undertook long journeys, he did not
succeed in reaching grand scenery like that of Switzerland or
the Tyrol; a visit to Italy remained one of Iris unfulfilled dreams.
ut at the first sign of spring he set out from Vienna, eager to
give up town life for that of the idyllic villages amongst the
forest-clad hills in the “ Wienerwald.” As a rule he would stay
there as far into the autumn as possible, only now and then
paying a flying visit to Vienna. Sometimes, when he went
 UA*rV***-~
J)
*val>nh

First Pace of the I.ettkk to " tub immoutat.i.y Hisr.ov.itD,”

 1) MAJOR, OPUS 28 8x
further afield on these summer journeys, it would be either
to visit, his wealthy and aristocratic friends at their country
,houses (as in Hungary and Silesia), or to seek relief for now one,
now an oil ter physical ailment at famous watering-places, such
as Carlsbad or Teplitz. “ No one can love the country as 1 do
- -forests, trees, rocks, they give the response that one desires ” ;
anti, one might add, that Beethoven often looked for in vain
amongst human beings. His love for the country was therefore
all the greater, and its peace and solitude the deepest solace
to his spirit. It was a relief to him, too, because of his failing
sense of hearing. “ My miserable hearing does not worry
me hote. 11; is as though, every tree spoke to me in the country.
\ loly, holy ! To be in the woods is ecstasy. Who can describe
It - -the sweet stillness of the woods ! ”
Nature was indeed holy to him, as a sheer image of the
divine. I Its mind was full of pantheistic ideas, and they were a
part of Ids contemplation of Nature. f£ Almighty!—in the
forest 1 am blissfully happy in the forest, every tree speaks to
me of Thee, O God ! I low glorious- --amongst these woods-
on these heights there is peace peace to serve Him ! ” One
can imagine from these impulsive, hymn-like ejaculations what
it was that occupied his mind and imagination. And, con¬
scious of the significant; part that Nature played in his creative
power, lie once writes, of the pleasant fir-woods at Baaden
(near Vienna): u There Beethoven often created poems, or,
as it is said, composed them.” It is characteristic of Beethoven
that he calls these musical ideas with which Nature has inspired
him “ poems.” He felt, as it were, that the roots of his art
went down to the primeval cause of things; Nature, eternal
and free, was a deep and frequent source of inspiration to him.
The octogenarian English pianist, Neate, who in his youth
saw a great deal of Beethoven, declared to Thayer that he had
never met anyone who loved Nature as Beethoven did. This
was evidently one of Neate’s strongest impressions of the
G
 bkktiiovknyh sonatas
Master’s natural disposition; ho says of it, u N^tuir was, a-;
it were, Ms nourishment; beseemed actually to bV on Un."
The Nature tnood of the sonata Is of an idyllic kind. On a
larger scale, and in more varied maimer, lmt haidly a more,
poetical one, Beethoven^ Nature joy and worship found utter
ance later in the “ Pastoral Symphony ” with its dread of storm
and its closing hymn, The pastoral dement in the sonata
arises from the numerous resting pedal points, the calmly
contemplative musical expression, the midulathig t inn*^ brats
(3/4, 6/8), the long, gently sung melodies.^ 'IV lint m i\»e
Allegro, with its genuinely pastoral, Bugle like dosing section,
which forms an important part in the modulation, might, from
its simplicity and peculiar rhythmic displacement, he taken as a
prototype of a page from the music of Brahms, I he veiy < boh e
of tonality, which, an we have seen, was an important point wit h
Beethoven, contributes to the pastoral mood. D major ranks
equally with K major in being thus understood.
And yet, Beethoven could not write an insipid Hundayish
idyll There, is a certain penetrating power even in the < aim
movements and their leading subjects, and the Sonata exhibits
effective, powerful contrasts, not only those mentioned above,
in the Andante^ but also in the short, almost I join king St he even
It seems to be a forerunner of the merry gatbeiing oj <ountry
folk, u Lustiges Zusatmneusein der Landleute ” the ascend
ing of the single thirds through the sixths to the whole of the
closely placed triad, giving the impression of more and more
merry a country folk,” crowding up and taking part in the fun.
The pastoral character of the Finale is asserted at once by the
solo basso ostinato at: the beginning, and later by the quiet
emotion controlling the movement. This movement too,
with its broad outlines and its sedate tempo (u Allegro ma non
troppo ”), may be considered a forerunner of the Finale in
the c< Pastoral Symphony ” with its a Thanksgiving Song.”
Riemann’s searching analysis has shown that it it; connected
 b MAJOR, OPUS 28 83

by many delicate tbrcacln with tbe earlier work, especially the

Unit Allegro of the sonata.
Regarded an a whole the fionata in a simple and unreflecting
tribute to the beauty and peace of Nature and rural surround¬
ings, To endow it: with mystery or reproduce Nature in fan-
last k: and mysterious imagery, as the composers of the romantic
school did not long aftier, was not Beethoven's way. Even
Franz Schubert, who came soon after, looked at Nature and
listened to her in a different way from Ludwig van Beethoven.

1
 CHAPTER IX

Even the exterior circumstances connected with Ihvtlinmi n

Opus 31 are peculiar. For various reasons three piano sonatas
were included in one “ work,” which now stands as a milestone
in the series, in so far as two of the sonatas, each in its own way,
point onward in the Master's production, while tlm third
looks back to a stage which he has almost; left behind hint.
Opus 31 comprises the sonatas in C# major, I) minor and E Hat
major, but they were not originally intended to appear a?s a
musical trefoil They did not constitute a unity in Beethoven^
mind, and it is chiefly from, a historical point of view t hat t heir
mutual contrasts become interesting. 1 he origin ol this Opim
is also responsible for the absence of any dedication, although
the first of the three seems to have been intended fur a lady
admirer, who had given occasion to its being composed, and
had been given the prospect of a dedication. But the plan
was not carried out, and as the sonata in its ultimate form
was grouped with two others, the name of this lady has never
become known.* It was Ci the lady’sidea that Beethoven
* The lady in question may have been the Counter Bmwnr to whom Opus tn its
dedicated. According to Lenz it is said that there is even another edition fin Pmrna f)
of the sonata, with a French title and bearing a dedication to the <hum teas. ^ Vet the
matter seems to be doubtful That the request came from a Leipzig publwbrf and
that Beethoven in his answer, apparently in ignorance, only meulmm 4* the lady,"
does not, at any rate, recall the Vienna beauty to one's mind. Wilibald Nagel has
found a letter from a Countess Kielmannsegg (who, according to rumour, by the way,
was the mistress of Napoleon and the mother of one of his sons), the contents of who h
might indicate that she was the unknown client who had given the " commission "
for the sonata, but who, on account of the Master's exaggerated claims (m regard# fee ?)
again withdrew from the affair. Nagel admits, though, that he is tmahle to produce
any evidence to prove his conjecture. Possibly it is quite permissible to agrer with
his opinion that Beethoven was inspired after ail by the peculiar u commission " to
write the sonata.
84
 <■; MAJOR, OPUS 31, NO. i 85

should write - a “Revolution Sonata”! When the young

Mu.'itor learned that, thin way the. object of the commission he
gave hilt indignation and sarcasm a free rein in his letter to the
publisher, 1 lofl'mcister of Leipzig. The letter, abrupt in form
and not exactly courteous in tone, is very characteristic of him :
“ Are you crazy, gentlemen ! To propose that I should write
a sonata of that sort:! .During the fever of the Revolution,
well, yes, lot that pass, but now, when people are simmering
down; Bonaparte has concluded a Concordat with the Pope
- such a sonata, now?- - Heavens above ! in these new Chris¬
tian times, humph !- -No, leave me alone, I shall do nothing of
the kind.”
The (» major sonata then, the ultimate outcome of these
ill-advised proposals, certainly does not bear the slightest trace
of revolution. On ihe contrary, it is serene, bright and gay.
It- might be called the staccato sonata, as the staccatos
predominate in a marked degree over the legates in both
the first, and second movements. This gives the music
a picpiant, and now and then a playful character; so
playful, in fact, that, one might he tempted to consider the
sonata a musical-ironical protest; against the revolutionary
idea that, wan to have been forced upon. Beethoven. An
example in point, is the Adagio, which is labelled “ grazioso ”—
surely a unique term for such a movement. Moreover, it is
exactly in that slightly old-fashioned style, ornamental and
circumstantial, that must have reminded listeners of the good
old times; besides, the resemblance to a C major Aria in
The Creation (of I laydn) is striking and perhaps not accidental.
Yet Beethoven does not disown his ideas in this movement;
we recognise his tone, where he passes over in the “ knocking ”
bass from C minor to the broad and beautiful A flat major
melody so characteristic of him. It is true that he soon returns
to the original mode: the old-fashioned daintiness is again
86 BUKTIIO VKN’S SONATAS

and more prominent. TJie bans figures and tin* employment

of thirds (and sixths) may also have reminded l lie amlietu e of a
favourite Italian manner in use earlier. 'I'ln* iionata line no
Scherzo; with his growing sense of unity and < Intruder
Beethoven would feel that in this instance, in which Bright •
ness and gaiety, playfulness and humour prevail throng,limit,
there is really no need of a Scherzo piece. In tlm Rondo Fin ah-
we again encounter the pleasantly jovial indoor tone, with
touches of genuine Beethoven humour.
This G major sonata, with the marked rhythmic t Itaracter of
the first movement, owes its origin, hy the way, to an outline
for a string quartet that was never completed. Beethoven
now intended it for the publisher and composer Nagdiof Zurich,
but his brother Carl wanted him to sell it to a Leipzig publisher,
no doubt with a view to obtaining a higher price. Carl and
the second brother, Julian, often interfered in a tactless and
selfish manner in the publishing affairs of their celebrated but
unpractical brother, who had neither the heart, nor tin* coinage
to tell them to mind their own business. During a walk at
Heiligcnstadt the two brothers (Ludwig and Carl), who were
both quick-tempered, grew so excited in discussing this matter
that it is said they came to blows, 'rite, story is not improb¬
able; Carl, at any rate, being no hot-tempered and so lacking
in self-control that lie once stabbed his wife in the hand with
a table-knife in a domestic quarrel !
Beethoven had his way in the, choice of a publisher, however,
and when the matter was nettled he nought, reconciliation with
his brother in the most generous way, as he, had so often done
before. But he gained no satisfaction from going to Nageli.
The worthy man took upon himself to make correct ions in the
work that had been entrusted to him for publieal ion -after all,
he was a bit of a composer too ! In his opinion the first move¬
ment would gain by the addition of four bars, and these he there¬
fore composed himself. When reading the proof-sheets,
 I) MINOR, OI’IJS 31, NO. 2

Bed hovcii of course discovered this audacity and was furious.

87
u Where lhe devil is t hat written ? ” ho shouted, and it is said
that “ hiii surprise and anger wore indescribable.” The four
bam wore struck out at; oner, all other faults corrected, and the
sonata was sent to Situ rook in Bonn with emphatic instructions
to publish it as Edition trls correcte.
'I'lio (J major sonata, then, together with the D minor that
followed it, appeared in 1803 at Sirnrock’s; but the Opus 31,
as we know it, comprising all the three sonatas mentioned
above, did not appear till 1805 in a Vienna edition, and then
bore, the Opus number 29. This is an example of the confusion
that: may sometimes be found in the numbering of Beethoven’s
works. Meanwhile the Master’s wrath, did not deter the
enterprising Zurich publisher from printing the sonata (1803)
in his Ui-ju'fLoire dot Clavicinistes.
However, it is not, this (i major sonata that sets its stamp
upon Opus 31. To use Beethoven’s own expression about an
earlier sonata, it cannot, at: any rate, be classed among the
“corkers,”- -the important link in the Opus is formed by the
iirxl non at a in I) minor.
The sonata has a fantasia character resembling that of the
two qutui /ttnltiMH. sonatas ol Opus 27 ; but it is less intimate
than cither of these. There are lines of pain about its
physiognomy.as t here generally are in Beethoven’s music when
lie choose!) this key • but, they do not hide themselves from the
beholder. Suffering, the agitated mind, the interior struggle
of the soul, are openly and strongly expressed, as though
imploring sympathy and understanding. In other words, the
sonata is not purely typical, rather it is dramatic in character,
and so far it is a forerunner of the “ Appassionata.” This it is,
furthermore, because the Master has been successful in creat¬
ing a tragic subject according to the principle: unity within the
cyclical form. Though the subject in the F minor sonata is
more stupendous, the mastery with which it is handled more
 88 BKKTriOVKN’H SONATAS

imposing, and the ur tint it: whole cousetpienl \y firmer and cheer
than in the present; ease, thin dors not conceal the resemblance.
It even extends to details, such an the way In which tin* first
stormy Allegros sink into a dull murmur, In a long- nuntaiued
clinging to the loading minor tonality, without really attaining
to rest or calmness at the clone.
The surging and ominous Arpeggios at the beginning of thin
first Allegro, the disquieting quaver -figures, tin* themes rising
from the depths and breaking in the shrill (ones of the treble,
the broken chords in concert style and the sudden speaking
recitatives (which really do utter a man’s speech and ought to
be played as such, and, as it has justly been pointed out, like t he
recitatives in the ninth symphony; “selon le enraeuVe d’un
r^citatif, mais in tempo”) -all these qualities make the move¬
ment a remarkable piece in Beethoven’s music (mm thin first
part of his manhood. If one looks for tin; deeper relation
between the Master’s work and the events of his life, our will
involuntarily find the text of thin tone poem in the well known
“Heiligenstadt Testament.” Is it not as though one heard
in the manly defiance and plaint of the rrrltatives the opening
words of this human document: " Oh, ye, human beings, who
think I am hostile, crazy or misanthropical, how you wrong
me, , , ?
This conception is strengthened when we know that the
sonata was written at exactly the name time as the “Testa¬
ment,” and that the first movement, unlike so much of
Beethoven’s other music, was created “straight off.” The
sketch-book shows that it stood complete in Beethoven’s mind
in all its main outlines. Perhaps he even wrote it. down in a
few hours, possibly while wandering in the country where the
“Testament” was also written. An imperative need to tell
“ human beings ” of his sufferings, of the struggle and conflict
in his soul, then finds utterance both in sounds and. In actual
words. And, as Goethe says, a god gave him the power to
 I) MINOR, OPUS 31, NO. 2 89

t'xprt'M) what he suffered, To such a height as this had he

attained in human and artistic development.
H thin he a correct; explanation of the origin and prevailing
mood of, the sonata, one need not go ho far as Shakespeare’s
Tempest in seeking to understand it (or the sonata Opus 57 in
affinity with it). A. Schindler has related that, in answer to
his question about; the key to the two works, Beethoven
answered curtly, “ Read Shakespeare’s Tempest 1 ” Schindler
was a devoted admirer of Beethoven, and a great help to him
in liis later years, when his health was failing and he was harassed
by many cares, but, intellectually speaking, Beethoven was
head and shoulders above him ; Schindler had not even the
stature of an Kokorin aim beside his Goethe. May not this
answer, then, have been meant merely as a biting or a jesting
and mocking evasion ? ft; does not seem to have any artistic
value. It is difficult, in fact, to find the relation between
this very dramatic first movement and the festival play which
is perhaps the least dramatic of Shakespeare’s works. In the
Finals of the sonata one might suspect a glimpse of the English
Master’s imaginary world and of a sad and gentle Ariel’s fare¬
well fligh t. Bu t what: has become of Caliban’s uncouth tumbling
about, and why translate the symbolism of the Tempest into
the. world of sound at all ? Nevertheless it is well known that
Beethoven had the greatest admiration for Shakespeare’s genius,
and that; he had entered deeply into the spirit of its inspired
frenzy, anti of the creatures of light and darkness bom of it.
The reading of Shakespeare’s dramas was an essential part of
Beethoven’s mental nourishment and may possibly often have
inspired him in his work. His answer may therefore be inter¬
preted in a general sense, without being applied to this par¬
ticular sonata in connection with the Tempest.
Beethoven, in fact, neither aimed at nor wished to write what
is called nowadays illustrative or u programme ” music. He was
too great for that, too free, too independent an artist. But it
 B Ii ET HO V14 N ’ S SON AT AS
9°
is quite certain that he created many of Iris wot to from the
germ of a poetical idea—-as one might perhaps rail ii which he
desired to endow with life in thin way ami put hr I ore his
audience. This subject cannot be further developed In-re, hut,
to elucidate the Master’s conception of this artistic point, tlie
following is worth mentioning: A Beethoven society had
been formed at Bremen under the leadership of Dr. W. C.
Muller and his daughter Elise, and when the Master heard of
this he was so pleased that he once said, “ lie wished lie had
Oberon’s horn that he might be transported tint her.” Now a
minor poet there, Dr. von Ikon, had mulct taken to wi in¬
appropriate verses to Beethoven’s various works, including the
sonatas. Specimens were sent to the Master, with a request
for his approval of this poetic interpretation, Imt lie rejected
the proposal in a friendly spirit: “ I lis music did not require a
programme or a detailed verbal interpretation; should (here,
after all, be any need of explanations at concert recitals, he
desired them to restrict themselves to a general survey of the
character of the compositions ” ; which really means l lie same
as theii “ poetic idea ” mentioned above.
In the main the dramatic clement is concluded wit h the first
Allegro of the sonata, yet, as indicated before, without any
deliverance being reached at the dose, 'rids sonata has already
been termed a forerunner of the “ Appassionata,” and, as in the,
latter, the first Allegro is followed by a quiet movement, its
calmness being the outcome of the previous struggle, and its
lighter air holding out hopes of a less troubled existence, yet
not in this work either does Beethoven rise to any Scherzo
mood. In the Finale we return to the sombre J) minor key;
there is a yearning and straining as in the first movement, but
as though transported into another world, in a strangely light
and delicate atmosphere—the whole has the effect of an
impalpable dream. One may perhaps think of a fantastic night¬
mare ; the link is then formed with the tradition which naively
tells us that Beethoven was indebted for this rhythm to the
 K FLAT MAJOR, OPUS 3r, NO. 3 91

hoof-beats of a galloping horse ! fl certainly cannot be an

ordinary earthly equine creature that rushes through this piece
of music. It. may be claimed, by the way, amongst those that
one would fain wish to lx; spared the madly rapid tempo of a
virtuoso, winch may easily give it a slovenly and study-like air.
We have been told that, the I) minor sonata is amongst those
which Beethoven himself valued highly and which he played
by preference in public. This is easily understood, partly
because of the concert, style possessed in a certain degree by this
sonata, partly because, in ihe marked outlines and concen¬
tration of this work, he could interpret his deep emotions in
a vivid tone-language.
In the third sonata, still included in this Opus 31, he speaks
in another tongue. This sonata is written in E flat major, and
ii: is a characteristic feature that the composer only finds his
way to this key through a sort of questioning theme and a series
of liars in no definite tonality. I) minor and E flat major!
These two favourite keys of Beethoven’s, so fundamentally
different, in character, here following closely after each other—
it seems once again an instance of the phenomenon peculiar to
Beethoven, that after having sung out his lament, and found
deliverance, from his deep despondency through his art, he
turns to the opposite of these moods, here to E flat, that is, his
heroic key and that in which he expresses Ids manly joy, his
healthy optimism.
y<;t (in thin K flat sonata) he does not rise to any actually
heroic mood. The sonata is slighter in style, but its language
is forceful and strong, spiced with a bold humour sustained by
the Master’s delightful and charming confidence and clearness.
The sonata—as the contrast to the D minor—is all confiding
harmony; anxiety and dread are almost entirely thrown aside;
it seems to have been done lightly and with a master hand; if
such moods do appear momentarily they are speedily put to
flight.
Unhappily we know nothing definite about the possible
9a BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS

exterior or interior causes of itn mention, Thus, nothing E

known of any sketches for the sonata, but it wan wilt ten at
about the same time as the two others Notwithstanding its
beautyitisput inthcshadefumuTwliat (a:» regards public m itals)
by those most nearly re.lat.ee I to it In tin* n<*ri<ei and written more
in concert style, the I) minor, C major and V minor sonatas.
To Hugo Ricrnann the subject of the .sonata represents t In* eagle
flight of genius set; free from its earthly ('oil. Yet it would serin
that it might be interpreted simply as a natural reac lion after
the gloom of the 1) minor in the previous sonata, and this
would quite agree witli Beethoven’s usual method of working,
assuming that he worked at both sonatas at t he same t line. In
the present instance it; is all tl 10 more probable, as this music
contains a sort of determination, suggestive of a deliberate will
to cope with life, an energetic effort, to rise above all that is
heavy and oppressive. But, as said before, there are no grand
heroics here, the subject of this sonata is not a matter of life and
death, and therefore does not evoke many impressions of an
eagle’s flight against the sun. Most people would seent in it a
wholesome fragrance of the soil. Tin* soundness and ton e of
this sonata come from its rhythmic Imoyaney and t lm ingenious
application of rhythmic effects, and henceforward Brcthoverbs
interest and inventive impulse are more and more attracted to
this means of effect. The tone language of this sonata is as far
from grand speeches as from external brilliance; on the con¬
trary, it is peculiarly downright in its tone, almost confidential,
with flashes of gay humour; it is harmonically dear and con¬
trolled—until the Finale, when it; seems that the artist is so
overwhelmed by vitality that his manly talk, hitherto firm,
breaks into jubilant, irrepressible, youthful frolics.
The sonata has no slow movement; there is no room here for
visions, laments or feelings! In a Scherzo, the first; ptmii one
In the sonatas, fairly bursting with strength and sparkling
rhythm, and more worked out than any middle movement
hitherto, Beethoven employs a new mode of effect, which, as
 K FLAT MAJOR, OPUS 31, NO. 3 93

stated curlier, Ik*, gained for llx: piano, and which we shall see
him using more and more : the staccato. The freedom and
newnemi of this movement; are already indicated in the time
signature, the triple time traditional in this section being,
abandoned, The whole movement is a masterpiece of tech¬
nique, invention and humour. A Mcnuetto, not unintentionally
called grazioso, seems to recall memories of a youthful cult of
I laydn anti Mozart; the Minuet otherwise disappearing grad¬
ually from Beethoven’s sonata-works. Here he has brought
it out, however, anti once more we meet with its graceful dignity,
stamped by his personal interpretation. It is as though one
saw ami beard the rustle of silken trains over brightly polished
parquet floors, and perceived dignified, gently playful glances
and courtly compliments. The Trio, on the other hand, points
to the future, as far ahead even as Schumann; and a modern
master of technique, Camille Saint-Safins, has, in fact, employed
l liese liars as a subject for a series of brilliant variations for two
pianos. In the very singular Coda Beethoven seems to with¬
draw from the elegant diversion, to turn his back on the ball¬
room and with a wistful sigh leave the dancers—his kingdom
is no longer of thin world.
What, his true kingdom is, the Finale already reveals to us in
a momentary gleam. It races on through storm and gale,
defiant and gay in its valiant assurance of its own force and
strength. Hence the intrepid display, in a rushing torrent of
all the pianistic mastery he now possessed, and which he caused
to gleam and sparkle, not for its own sake, but as the means of
freely expressing deeply personal and sublime ideas. One may
therefore agree with Hugo Riemann in considering this sonata,
and especially its Finale, as the last preparation for those gigantic
piano-works, the “ Waldstein ” and the “ Appassionata
sonatas. On the other hand, it is perhaps more difficult to
understand how the same writer can hear “ the trembling of
the universe ” and “Wotan sweeping across the seas and over
mountain forests,” even when understanding which rhythmic
 BISKTUOVKN’S SONATAS
94
passages he imagined to be the riding <>f Wotan. On tho
other hand, it is quite impossible to mulonitaml that another
writer could be content to interpret the Final? as a tarantella !
This movement has as little to do with dance music, howevei
ennobled and enlarged in form, as with the riding <>l Wotan.
This glorious and sovereign tone-drama of Beet hoven’s does
not, in fact, need either one or the other of stub “explains-
tions.”
Beethoven’s Opus 31 is a remarkable triad amount bin piano
works—arising as it did arbitrarily, or almost accidentally, and
yet having its own features and peculiar significance in the
series of the sonatas. It shows within small limits the wealth
of genius in its varying moods and forms of expression, some¬
times directly opposed to each other, in the first auction {jointing
back to the youthful, essentially artistic stage, and in the two
others forward, and that again in different; ways, partly to a
greater and greater pianistic perfection of many facets, partly
to a more dramatic style. At the time when these sonatas
were written, Beethoven is said to have stated that lie was not
satisfied with his earlier works. “ Henceforth 1 will walk in a
new path,” he added. He may have alluded to a great work like
the “ Eroica ” Symphony, which was perhaps then already
forming in his mind; but the Opus 311) minor and IC flat, major
sonatas can also testify to his determination to find new paths.
A friend, who felt that there was something new and surpris¬
ing in them, on asking whether a particular place in the I) minor
sonata “ was good,” received from Beethoven the character¬
istic answer, “ Yes, of course it’s good! But; you are of the
same country as Ktum^holz—you cannot get that kind of thing
into your thick Bohemian head ! ”
* * # # # #
Beethoven is now ready and ripe for the two great sonatas,
the “ Waldstein ” and the u Appassionata,” but they are pre¬
ceded in the series by two a Senates faciles ” (in G minor and
 c; MAJOR, OIHJS49, NO. 1 95

(i major), ()pus 49. They an; really sonatinas, each in only two
movements; the first consisling of an Andante and an Allegro,
lint second of an AlU-jyo and a Mmuelto. These two simple
musical works, in which there is hardly any working out of the
theme, are not,, as was at, one time supposed, early attempts
at compositions by Beethoven when quite young, which now
found favour on closer examination. Yet their origin un¬
doubtedly dataa-i back some years- -compared with the last-men¬
tioned Opus, again a proof of how unreliable Beethoven’s Opus
numbers are in a chronological respect'.
The sonata in (1 major dates from 1796. It is therefore
strange, puzzling, in faet, how Hugo Riemann can find that it
is a contrast in mood to the subject and tone of the “ Heiligen-
stadt: Testament.” The two things seem to have nothing to do
with each other, psychologically, and as Beethoven did not write
the “ Testament ” till 1802, this excludes any connection
between them. The sonata in D minor dates from the year
1798. According to Shodloek there are some sketch-books
in the British Museum containing sketch upon sketch, drafts
woiked out over and over again for these small sonatas, which
were probably written for tbc use of Beethoven’s pupils. At
that, time lie still gave some guidance in piano playing to
ladies of rank and others. The absence of any dedication on
this Opus also indicates that they were originally meant for
purposes of study. In this capacity the two sonatas probably
circulated in manuscript or in copies, until they were printed
in 1805, at the instance, it seems, of the business-like brother
Carl. Whether it is due to him or another publisher equally
capable that the sonatas were advertised with doubtful
accuracy, as “ quite new,” is a matter on which we have no
certain information.
The Minuet in D major has a motif, which in its main out¬
lines was employed in Beethoven’s Septette, the latter dating
from the year 1800.
 CHAPTER X

The sonata in G major, Opus 53, is believed in have been

composed in 1803 4. h wan published in tHm, under tlm title
of “ Grande Senate,” the right name indeed for ilii’i work,
which possesses more grandeur than any previous sonata, and
the stamp of a work written on concert scale. 11 has a ho, more
than any of them, won for iInelf a plat e in < om eri rooms.
The sonata was dedicated to Count Ferdinand von Wald'
stein, and one may venture to believe that thin dedhalion wan
a matter nearer to Beethoven’s heart than many of the other;!.
In the early dayo in Bonn, Count Wahlsiem, with Ida alert,
enlightened mind and Ids understanding love of art, wan
amongst the first: to perceive the genius ol the Gomt singer's
son. It was to him, as we have already seen, that Beethoven
to a great extent owed the connet lion with llaydo and the
aristocratic world of Vienna,
At Bonn,Count Waklatein, who watt eight years older than
Beethoven, presented the Jailer with a grand piano for his
training as a pianist. lie also assisted him litnm tally, having
the delicacy and tact to let the young mush ian think that the
money was an acknowledgment ol, musical services tendered to
the Elector. It is very probable that the “ Kitterballet ”
which Beethoven composed at Bonn was a token ol his appre ¬
ciation of the young Count, when the latter was raised to the
knighthood of a German order in 1788. (The music appeared
anonymously in 1791, and Count Waldstdn does not flnem to
have contradicted those who assumed it to he bis work !) The
lines on an album leaf, written on the occasion of the composer’s
departure for Vienna and quoted in every biography of
96
 u WALDSTEIN ” SONATA, OPUS 53 97

Beethoven, will always remain a link between the two names.

JNoletteni seem to have been preserved from any correspondence
between lbo two mem—or musicians, one might say, as Count
Waklutein was more than an amateur at; music, but there is no
reason to suppose that the good relations between them were
ever interrupted or clouded over, as we know that they were
unhappily in the case of several other friends of Beethoven*
They remained unbroken for a long time, in any case; for a
remark in the u conversation-books ” might be taken to indicate
that: an estrangement or coolness did ultimately supervene.
As a fervent patriot: Count Waldstcin later separated from the
Elector at: Bonn, with whom he had been particularly intimate,
as the latter seemed to have engaged in a political coquetry with
Prance, and the Count; then obtained Austrian permission to
offer his services to England. His last years were spent in
Vienna, where he died childless at; the age of sixty-one, four
years before Beethoven. He seems to have been a man of more
than usual worth, and of sterling character, besides being both
a cultivated and extremely charming personality, the type of a
refined and aristocratic Viennese of that time. A contemporary
has t hus described him : u He is very intellectual and culti¬
vated, and his knowledge is extensive. He is a man who can
appreciate a good table, and has a refined taste m wine. He
is an admirable musician and improvises delightfully on the
piano. He is a reliable and devoted friend; he has humour
and he is charitable in his opinion of others. In regard to
politics it is impossible to be of a better spirit than he. He
is as dear to me as a brother, A finer and more genuine
character than his cannot be imagined,”
One can understand that Beethoven would feel attached to
such a man, who was worthy of his friendship and had
filled a large place in the early years of his life. His craving
for the affection and sympathy of his fellow-men seems to have
been satisfied in an unusual degree in this instance,
H
98
BKl1’.TIIOVKN’H SONATAS

We may therefore believe that (he dedication ol i be C ’ major

sonata “ came from the. heart ” ami “ went to the heart 1 (as
Beethoven wrote, on hit) Mina solmni0- Bui Besides these
human, fraternal feelings fur Count Wahlslein .memories were
linked with this name. Memories ol childhood « days and the
life in Bonn, though not veiy happy ones far from it. Yet
Beethoven never forgot his Birthplace and tin- country around
it; right up to his latest years lie dung to it, and no doubt the
passage of time softened in his mnembiance much that was
bitter and dark, and the town on the Rhine remained, grown
beautiful in the soft radiance shed on it by the memories of
childhood. It is not strange that in the first letters from
Vienna he dwells on Ids life in Bonn, writing in iHoi to
Wegeler : “ My fatherland in mill as dear and bem.tilul to my
mind’s eye as when I left you ” ; and at about the same time
to his friend Amentia: “ You are no Pimm-J rim! ^ um you
are of the kind that the soil of my country prodm e;i.” There
is also the touching story from 1812 about, the young gardener
who brought Beethoven letters from Ids father, tin- dire, lor
of the public gardens in Bonn, and from Ferdinand Rim.
Beethoven was deeply moved on hearing his Bonn diah-m and
received him very cordially. “ J ean understand you, ex. homed
the great Master, “ you speak ‘ Bbnmsdi ’ ” (the Bonn dialect).
“ You must be my guest on Sunday at ‘ The White Swan !''
As late as 1823 Beethoven writes to Rica, who was then living
in Bonn : “ Farewell, thou ever-dear Rhine country.” In the
letter quoted in an earlier chapter, of tH-;/>, iron. Beethoven to
Wegeler, in which he says that he still has a silhouette of
Eleonore von Brcuning, he adds, “ You can see from this how
I treasure everything from my youth that, is dear and good.”
Even without any direct evidence about; it; there is reason
to believe that both the memories of the country round his
home and his affection for the friend of his youth have had
their share in the composition of the “ poem,” as Beethoven
 “WALDSTEIN” SONATA, OPUS 53 99

himself calls it, of the C major sonata. Moreover, a direct

proof has been found in the song melody3 in the last movement,
which in said to have come from a Rhineland folk-song. It
belongs, hy the way, to those melodies peculiar to Beethoven,
arising in the music, charming in their beauty, but not brought
to a formal conclusion, though the lack of this is not felt. We
have met with this type of melody before and we shall meet
it again ; for instance, in the if sharp major, Opus 78, 1st
movement; If major, Opus 90, 2nd movement; A flat major,
Opus no, ist movement; C minor, Opus in, 1st movement.
It also occurs, of course, in Beethoven’s other works, such as
in the Coriolan ?? Overture, in the F minor quartette and
others,
******
We am imagine, then, how Beethoven’s mind was stirred
when he wrote this sunshine sonata. At any rate no one can
have any doubt about tlie light-hearted happiness that finds
expression in this music. At the very beginning of the sonata
oik* may perhaps find a symbol of it in the contrast between

the monotonous murmur in the deeper tones of the instru¬

ment and the little, darting motif in its upper notes, which
develops into an exultant series of semiquavers. This little
motif characteristic of Beethoven’s style at this time, is not
really a melody, but; a rhythmic motion ; it attains to promin¬
ence in the movement and is countered by the beautiful hymn¬
like K-major ?notf which is a more direct expression of deliver¬
ance leading to interior harmony. The way in which the
latter appears, first in calm, broad harmonies, then spun into
triplet figurations, might remind one of the piano concertos
with the interplay of piano and orchestra. Meanwhile this is
not any piece of musical conflict, such as we find so often in
Beethoven’s instrumental works of this (so-called “ second ”)
period. The deliverance, the happiness, seems to be present
from the beginning, it is not attained through strife and sharp
100 BEETHOVEN'S SONATAS

contrasts; altogether there are but few minor < honla in this
sonata, the subject of which expresses more ami more dearly
the light and splendour radial mg from a harmonious non I
attuned to joy. The close of the movement, in very poetic :
into the radiant and majestic stream of sound llie hymn- like
motif ventures to whisper, giano dolce, like a memory, pleading,
warning; but in his ecstatic joy the composer does not listen
to its speech, its lingering notes are broken swiltly ami reso¬
lutely, so that the rhythmic motif which has prevailed in the
movement gets the last word, followed hy a few Jf ehord:i.
This mood in the first movement now yields for a few moment:;
to the beautiful introduction to the Rondo finale, ami more
plaintive moods find expression in the Molto Adagio tempo.
The mind seems stirred by a strange wave-like, nun ion ; unlike
the firmness of the first Allegro, the Adagio limit) only transient
rest in the melody it utters, but as it is swayed more and more
by the waves it emerges again, this time in that very melody of
the Rhineland which may have sprung from the memories of
childhood that have inspired this sonata, or that have been
awakened while the composer was at work on it. In a tern go
which Beethoven, by adding the word modf rata, expressly
wishes to guard from being hurried, this melody gracefully
unfolds itself from the introduction, gliding out: like sunshine
and diaphanous mists over the cver-dear Rhine, the rippling
of whose waves it does not need mu eh imagination to hear in
the figuration woven round the melody. The whole pie; e is
bathed in beautiful, undimmed sunshine, notwithstanding the
incidental minor melodies; they seem only to give the move •
ment a peculiar boldness. In its rich colouring it suggests
a taste of ripe grapes!
In compass the largest Finale that Beethoven had yet given
to any sonata, it shows, in its brilliant concert style, like the
rest of the sonata, the Master’s intimacy with his instrument and
his clear and unerring handling of it, A mastery like this was
 “ WALDSTEIN” SONATA, OPUS 53 iox

able to evoke this stream of poetry from the instrument. The

“ Sonata of the Dawn ” is the not ill-chosen name once given
to this sonata!
To us this work now seems to be of such firm and organic
construction that it is difficult to believe the account of Ferdi¬
nand Kies, who says that in its original form it had a large inde¬
pendent middle movement, the Andante in F major, which was
taken out later and published independently under the name
of Andante favori. A friend of Beethoven—can it have been
Ries himself ?—is said to have remarked to him that with this
comprehensive Andante the Sonata would attain to an unwieldy
size and be far too long, in the opinion of those days. Even
though the hot-headed Master disagreed emphatically with
this, lie took occasion later to act upon the suggestion. The
Andante was taken out and replaced by the present Intro-
duzione. Owing to the perfect form that the sonata now seems
to possess, this account has not always been believed; but it
has gained in credibility by Thayer’s remark (in a catalogue of
Beethoven’s works), that in the MS. Introduzione is written
with quite another kind of ink than the rest of the sonata,
and has therefore evidently been inserted later.
Nor is it; easy to believe that the length of the sonata would
be a deciding factor in making Beethoven eliminate the F major
Andante, but lie may well have been constrained to do so for
artistic reasons. He may have felt that a contrasting section
or a transition of a more serious and introspective character
was needed between the two impetuous and brilliant outer
movements. With the Andante the sonata as a whole would
have been too monochrome, and the brilliant concert style,
which in the F major Andante becomes almost ingratiating
and intimate, would dominate the sonata more than fitting in
a chamber music work.,;
Meanwhile, as it is, the sonata is resplendent with virtuoso
features, with glittering runs and passages, though they are not
tot lUMTIIOVKN’S SONATAS

an aim in themselves, like those here and there in tlie earlier

works, but issue from the intention to elothe thr bright,
radiant music as expressively and effectively an possible. The
sonata has cadenza parts and rapid triplet pannages, it has a
wealth of tremolos, in the Rondo especially* it has whole chains
of trills ringing out their joy through several bars* and joined
to the leading melody in a new and effective manner.
Beethoven himself writes about these trills, that if the passage
is found to be too difficult, it; can be. made easier by various
alterations, which he indicates himself, observing in eonelmaon
that it is not a matter of great; importance even if this long
trill loses something of its usual value; a remark -showing that
Beethoven was well aware that ho had writ ten for a practised
concert pianist rather than for the private devotee nf the art
of piano playing.
It is probable that the idea for the sonata aro.se in Beet¬
hoven’s mind in the beginning of the year in whit h he- played
in public his C minor concerto, a siuprudous achievement in
those days, regarded both as a composition anti from the point
of view of teclmicjue. May one not suppose, (hen, 1 hat his
joyous sense of victory, in having been able to show his audbmee
what he could make his instrument produce, would still be
tingling in him when he completed the sonata? 11 has the
interplay between concert music and intimate'sonata to which
we alluded before. The radiance of the C major sonata can
hardly come only from the reflections of memories of childhood,
but must be due also to the composer^ joy in tin* consciousness
of the mastery he now possessed.
######
Meanwhile the Walclstein sonata represents in the series only
a temporary deliverance from gloom and despondency* If we
did not know from other sources, from letters and the accounts
of contemporaries, as well as from such works as the C minor
symphony, what was still oppressing Beethoven, and what he
 “ WAL'DSTKTN ” SONATA, OPUS 53 103

juid to struggle against within and without, we should have a

presentiment of it in the great looming shadow of the “ Appas-
sitmala,” which is now drawing close upon us.
11 is preceded by only one sonata work, the small F major
sonata, Opus 54, in two movements. Very little is known of the
origin of this work, which, not without reason, has no distin¬
guished place in the series, and has never been popular, hardly
more than slightly known, either by the public or by pianists,
in u/lmm it offers difficult but rather thankless tasks. It carries
no dedication, and judging from the sketch-books it does not
seem to have filled Beethoven’s mind or thoughts as much as
similar works often did : the first disconnected outlines are
found in the sketch-books immediately before the sonata, in its
final form, and, as though symbolically, at the same time as
the outlines for the work that was to cause him so much distress,
“ KidUio,” and for one of his least popular and least inspired
concert works, the so-called “ Triple Concerto, Opus $6.
It, may perhaps be supposed that the sonata served purposes
of teaching; fn any case it shows Beethoven’s preoccupation
with mimical problems, but while the K flat (Opus 31) and
C major (Opus 53) sonatas show the victory of musical ideas
over inch tuque, the technical here seems to be uppermost, so
that the subject is somewhat put in the shade. Nohl already
called llu; sonata “a study,” though he carefully added, “but
certainly a Master’s study.”
The first movement, bearing the remarkable term, in
tempo cl’ 11 n menuetto,” can hardly be considered a study.
It: is a piece full of character, slightly rugged and inacces¬
sible, in which two diverse subjects are set one against
the other, in direct and unmediated opposition eve
attaining to anyjusjon; such as Beethoven might and could hav
brought about, had he wished to do so. That he did not,
must therefore have been from a certain intention which
cannot now be traced. Towards the end the composer remodels
 104 MKTIfOVKN’S SONATAS
the Drat hard or rather robust theme, «o ih.it ii becomes gentler
and almost visionary. It haw been suggested ihai in this fonu
it has a resemblance to a Swedish folk wong. 'I*iil*i may be
accidental, though m his later yearn, and jrerh.qis c*ven at ilii^
time, Beethoven heeamo interested in studying iln- folk tumyn
of various couulrien. It is, therefore, cjuile possible that there
is a re-echo of a folk-song in this piano work, though we do not
know whether a definite Swedish melody was known lo the
Master or present in his mind. As we know, t he st udy «,f folk
songs bore other fruits in his production. Another remiiulm of
them may perhaps be pointed out in a later sonata (Opus tut),
The running semi-quaver figures of tin- Finale already show
an external relationship with the Hinnle of the sonata in A flat
major, Opus 2(5. It cannot' he denied (hat this sonata, toe*,
has somewhat the character of a study, and is not part it idarly
inspired or communicative. .But the movement, with its < lear
and, as it were, objective stream of music-, in a style which
seems to foretell the “last” sonatas, and with its elaborate
detail, is still a piece of music; which bears the imprint o| genius
especially from a harmonic: (modulatory) and rhythmic'point’
of view. .Though unappreciated by several writers, ibis Finale
too contains the germs of future music. The eff'ec t produced
by .tbit) sonata in its own day can be seen in a criticism in the
Leipzig Musical Times, in which ii is said lo be “ difficult lo
play,” “written in an eccentric spirit,” but « full „f
ordinary whims.”
 CHAPTER XI

When did Beethoven write his Opus 57, the Sonata in F

minor, perhaps the most famous of them all and the most
frequently played, and still known as the “ Appassionata,”
although the Master himself never gave it that name ?
It cannot be stated with certainty when the sonata was
composed. Schindler writes that it was the first work that
was written after the exertions entailed by the opera “ Fidelio,”
and that the Master wrote it down without a break at the house
of bin friend, Count Brunswick. According to this the whole
of the sonata would have been written during the year 1806.
Ferdinand Rica, however, a pupil in whom the great Master
took a friendly interest, writes as follows: “ We (Beethoven and
JRicfi) were out for a walk and lost our way so that we did not
get back to Ddbling, where Beethoven was staying, until eight
o’clock in the evening. While we were out he had kept on
humming and shouting to himself, up and down the scale, but
without singing definite notes. I asked him what he was
singing and he said, “ A theme has occurred to me for the last
movement of the sonata.” When we got back and went into
his room he rushed straight to the piano, without stopping to
take off his hat. Then he stormed at the piano for fully an
hour over the new, brilliant Finale of this sonata. At last he
got up, was surprised to see me still there, and said, “ I cannot
give you any lesson to-day, I must go on with my work.”
Beethoven lived at Dobling in the summers of 1803 and 1804.
During one of these years the Finale at any rate must have been
composed.
105
 10 6 UMMTffOVKN\S SONATAS
Meanwhile wo have still a third account of l lm origin of the
sonata. It is that; touched upon above, about Beeihovnds
flight ill anger from Prince Urhnowaky’s house in Silesia,
where an atlompt: wan made to persuade him to play to the
French officers* Thu Prince, who war; a man of (In* world,
wanted his prot^gd, thu famous (Jenna n mush i,m, to nit down
at the piano and entertain (hum distinguished gentlemen.
Beethoven was unwilling from (ho very lirst; it if; wrll known
a
what he thought of thu Umperor ” Napoleon, and now In* was
standing face to face, with this empuror’rj officers, who had hut
lately led the army in the battle at Jena, At (he dinner table,
we are told, his eyes had dashed lire when one of the officers
had asked him if he played the violin, and he had not con¬
descended to give him any other answer. When the music
was about to begin lie had disappeared, and when he was found
and the Prince tried to prevail upon him to play, the Master
was seized with downright fury. Pair* in the evening as it
was, in rain and sleet, he left the castle, walked to (he nearest
town, Troppau, and there found shelter for the night in the
house of the Prince’s physician, Dr, Weiser. From there be
sent Prince Lichnowsky a letter, containing the oft quoted
lines; “ Prince, whal you are, you are by accident of birth;
what I am, I am by my own effoils. There have been, and
always will be, thousands of, princes, but there is only one
Beethoven! ” *
On this occasion Beethoven took with him, amongst the
possessions that he had hastily gathered together, tin* manuscript,
of the F minor sonata, which is said to hear evidence to this
day of its creator’s dreary and wet nocturnal walk. This
^aPPene<^ iftoC,
and Herr Bigot, Prince: Rasumowsky’s
librarian, relates that Beethoven showed the wee stained
Fhc letter io not to be found in (bo ooltoofion of BrothovruS; Ioftoni; It ift
hardly likely that the Prince would liavc kept It I Dr, WebtrCa nun In il»r authority
for it, though he does not guarantee (be exact of the wording, but (be linos
quoted have the true Beethoven ring I
 “ APPASSTONATA” SONATA 107

manuscript and drenched valise to His wife, Frau Marie Bigot,

on liifi return to Vienna shortly after the incident. Frau
Bigot wan a charming woman and an excellent pianist, and
Beethoven had the highest regard for Her, apparently also on
ot her grounds than those of her musical talents. She sat down
at; the piano, and to the Master’s delight played the sonata from
the damp pages, which were also covered with alterations,
afterwards asking him to give her the memorable manuscript
as a reward. According to Bigot’s account, this was the manu¬
script intended for the printer; with its damp spots it is still
in the possession of the family. The sonata is accordingly
believed to have been finished in the autumn of 1806.
In order to reconcile these accounts with each other it has
now been suggested, apparently with good reason, that Schindler,
who did not become associated with, Beethoven until a much
later date, has confused the Tidmowskya with the Brunswicks,
which in all the more probable as the sonata is dedicated to
the young Count Brunswick. Tn any case Schindler is wrong
in saying that the sonata was composed straight off “ without
a break.” We can sec from the sketch-books that Beethoven
was at work on the first movement of the sonata at the same
time that lie was planning the opera of “Leonore” (i.e.
“ Fidelio ”). There are also notes for the slow movement in
this sketch-book, while a single draft for a Finale is quite
different from the final form. These notes date from the year
1804.
There is no doubt that this mighty work, which seems to
have sprung from the artist’s mind whole and entire, really
came into being slowly, little by little, and after engaging his
imagination, for at least two years, simultaneously with several
other works of a totally different kind and character. This
will not surprise anyone who is acquainted with Beethoven’s
method of creating and working. When an idea had taken
shape in his mind he was able to retain it for years and to bring
10S BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS

it out for greater elaboration when he required it. lie seems,

in fact, to have found it rather stimulating to he engaged
simultaneously on a variety of themes, each requiring its own
treatment. The mental labour of such a working out of ideas
must have been considerable and it compels our admiration
again and again, yet the main outlines of the work were no
doubt clear to the Master from the beginning. So, too, in
the case of this sonata. It may not have sprung forth “ in one
rush,” as Schindler thought, and as we know that its fore¬
runner, the D minor sonata, Opus 31, No. 2, did, yet its main
idea and its general mood certainly arose in the year 1804,
when at any rate the first two movements were finished. If
we are to believe Ries’s account, and we have good reasons for
doing so, the themes of the last movement originated in the
same year, while the final form to which they were raised
probably dates from 1806—and possibly from the visit to the
Lichnowsky castle.
Essentially, then, the sonata is of about die same period as
the so-called “ Waldstein ” sonata, Opus 53. But wliat: a
contrast it forms to this predecessor I If the “ Waldstein ”
sonata soars up into the full light of day, die “ Appassionato ”
belongs to the dark gloom of night; if in the former we hear
the voice of a joyous soul set free, the latter is the cry of a
restless, harassed spirit. Both sonatas—each in its own way —
are evidence of the heights to which Beethoven has risen in his
art and his spiritual development. He has reached such a
mastery of the technical that the material element, so to speak,
no longer exists for him. He can pour out his whole soul in
terms of art, the piano being his interpreter and intermediary.
He had eagerly studied the executive resources of his favourite
instrument, and, as we know, prevailed upon the makers of
pianos to produce instruments of greater power and elasticity
and of larger range than those hitherto made. If he rejoiced
when he came into possession of such instruments, of fuller
 TIIK “ Ai’PASSIONATA ” SONATA 109

tone and increased compass, capable of yielding more delicate

shading and a richer variety of tone colour, it was not because
he wished to compose with more appreciation, brilliance or
grandeur for the piano, but only because he could by these
means freely and fully express the ideas that absorbed him.
Here, at last, so far as it was humanly possible, he could find
utterance for the music echoing in his soul. “ What do you
suppose I care about your wretched fiddle when the spirit
speaks to me ? ” he had said, with mocking humour, to Schup-
pan/.igh, that admirable young violinist, who was the first to
make his quartets ring with life. To the ’cellist Kraft, who
complained that a passage in one of the quartets (from
this very period) involved awkward positions, he answered
brusquely, “ You will have to put up with them ! ” While
he must, of course, have been filled with joy and satisfaction
when he perceived how in that poor material implement, the
piano, he could find a voice able to express the promptings
of bin spirit. Truly, in a sonata like this we have reached a
point in Beethoven’s piano works in which the technical
elements —these runs and passages, these ornamentations,
shakes and cadenzas-—are not in any way felt to be mere
external decorations, but in the highest degree an integral,
inseparable part of the work of art itself. Hugo Riemann is
most assuredly right when he says that “ any thought of
deliberate, virtuoso brilliance is a blasphemy ! ”
The F minor sonata then, even in its external form, is a high-
water mark amongst Beethoven’s greatest achievements as a
composer for the piano. Though it is one of the sonatas most
frequently found on the programmes of pianists—even after
the “ last ” sonatas were discovered, to the detriment, almost,
of their predecessors—this should not confuse us. From its
whole character, and because of the demands it makes in a
technical sense, the sonata is justly classed amongst those which
are performed not only in the home, but also in the concert-
jr io BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS

room.-taking t.lio idea of concert music in its highest sense.

Unfortunately many a virtuoso mangle Beethoven’s work
abominably, above all by far too rapid tmpu Intended to < I inplay
the performer’s brilliance, while they make havoc oi the musical
poem.
Let us turn, however, from there < ommlerai ions of the out-
ward aspect of the sonata to its inner essence, its spirit.
At about the same time that: Beethoven conceived the idea
for this Opus 57, or at any rate shortly before, he wrote at the
end of a letter to the painter, Maeo, u Do you paint and I will
write music, so shall we live on—for ever? Yen, perhaps lor
ever.” It is as though he wan conscious of the heights to
which his genius had now soared ; as though he, an yet only half¬
way through, his thirties, felt that he wan one of I he < omimmity
of elect spirits of mankind, one of those who were to live for
ever. This explains, perhaps, that, Beethoven again for a time
feels remote from, raised above communion with ordinary,
earth-bound human beings, and entirely absorbed in /prat
and wonderful inspirations. At this time lie is possessed by a
great need of solitude, an lie was during the last years of bis
life. He seeks new quarters again and again, In* lues no per
manent home; no house shall be pointed ont and mentioned
as his home where it is easy to find him ; at one time the Master
even had four different lodgings at his disposal at (me and the
same time! Altogether he is full of a seething unrest, as
though possessed by a demon, and subject to abrupt changes of
mood. We see it, for instance, in the outspoken letters to bis
friend Breuning, in whom he confides very fmdy. I le is
capable of violent rage over trivial, everyday matters, stu b as
questions of house-rent; and, as he writes himself on one
occasion, he is able to Bide Ids sensitiveness on many points
and to restrain himself, but if he is once roused at a time when
he is in an angry mood, he explodes with, more violence than
anyone else* On the other hand, he is quickly brought to
 TIIK “ APRASSIONATA ” SONATA in

reason ; I,lie angry words were only the outbreak of a stormy

mood, lie really did not mean them, and Beethoven is seen
aiming (o reatore the good relations by means of gentle and
cordial expressions of good-will.
*##•*#*

During this period the calm of his mind is frequently dis¬

turbed by illness; he seems to have suffered from a sort of ague,
lie resorts to die watering-place of Baaden, but while there
complains of t he bad weather and of not feeling secure from the
society of other people. “ I must go away in order to be
alone,” he says, significantly indicating his state of mind. In
addition to what lias been told here, there were changes of
mood resulting from worries and annoyances in connection
witli the performance of his opera “ Leonora.”
Some -perhaps a great deal -of the human, psychological
background in the moods that find expression in the F minor
sonata, can he traced hack to all this. “Read Shakespeare’s
1Tempest ! ” These words of Beethoven, whether deeply and
sincerely meant or not, refer to the Opus 57 as well as to the
Opus 31 that occasioned them. There is certainly a tempest
like that of a Shakespearean drama in this sonata, and the storm
is not external, physical, in Nature, as Czerny would explain
l he 1‘mul movement . I t is true that Beethoven loved wandering
in the open country, and loved Nature most in her wildest
moods, in roaring gales and driving rain, and the sonata,
especially in the last movement, undoubtedly expresses some¬
thing of Goethe’s thought: “ Dem Schnee, dem Regen, dem
Sturm entgegen.” 1’erliaps those who have said that Beet¬
hoven’s imagination was stirred by sights and sounds in Nature,
by the shrieking wind tearing at the trees, are right in their
assertion. Judging from Ries’s account, the idea for the final
movement probably came to him during a walk in the country,
but it is quite certain that the storm was in his own soul. It
was raging in the Master’s breast, moaning and wailing like
I It BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS
the wind in Shakespeare’s poetry, or in the mountains and
forests of the country round Vienna.
We cannot probe to the deepest causes of this stormy mood.
The outward circumstances mentioned above could only
indirectly have contributed to it. It is not cany to explain
why Beethoven was at this time so plunged in gloom and despair,
why his mind was in such a state of turmoil. Was it the con¬
tinual pain and dread caused by his failing sense of hearing ?
About this time Breuning writes to Wcgelcr on this subject:
“You cannot imagine the indescribable, I might say, the
terrible effect it has upon him that his hearing is beginning to
fail.” Was it a deep unsatisfied longing for requited love,
memories perhaps of the rupture with the beautiful Giulietta
Guicciardi, not so long before the theme of the sonata had
arisen in his mind ? Yet the F minor sonata, still less than the
C sharp minor, does not directly speak of the moods and
impulses of love. Or was it genius fretting at the chains that
bound it to earth? Can it have been the solitary life which
he had perforce to live, because his paths lay no far above
those of ordinary men, that made him break out. in a cry of
despair because he was so unutterably lonely and so little
understood ?
We do not know. And yet we do know, because we have
before us the perfect utterance of a perfect genius, and this
rare and costly proof of the heights to which art can attain
really tells us all that we need know.
This sonata, in which the anger and defiance of a super¬
man find a voice, seems in a few brief moments to have sprung
from the highest inspiration. Yet, as we know, it was built
up, perhaps during the course of several years, by the conscious
and perfectly controlled art of a master, the Master who had
written, or in whose mind were growing such works as the
“ Kreutzer Sonata,” “ Fidelio,” the B flat and C minor
symphonies, the violin concerto, the G major piano concerto,
 Til 10 u A IT ASS l GNAT A” SONATA 113
the rugged u Corlolan n overture, ilia siring quartets of
Opus 59, each one of which shows that it is the inspiration of a
grant and exalted mind, They bear the mark of the unerring
artist hand that wrote them, and some of them are partly,
but only partly, kindred of the “ Appussionata.” We can
go through this sonata phrase by phrase, bar by bar, and we
shall marvel at tin? genius ami the deliberate care with which
the whole is directed to and attains the highest effect, not having
one note too many or too few. Hence its wonderful monu-
mentality, its richness and beauty of form, that suggest to us
the name of Michael Angelo, the genius to whom Beethoven
is so often compared, aha) because of points of resemblance in
character and temperament. We can therefore apply to this
sonata the words of Pascal: u Quand on voit le g<Jnie pur on
est ravi —el fuonnA” This is true, because there is in the
rapture and astonishment an element of terror, of shock, at
hearing the unmistakable, actual voice of genius speaking so
openly, no I erribly. I le who has not once at least felt something
of this weirdness and terror is not yet fully awake to Beethoven's
genius.
What has been said here about the F minor sonata might
also be said about the last sonatas, in any case in a certain degree
about the impassioned ones amongst them, such as the sonatas
in B Hat major, Opus 106, and C minor, Opus m, and yet we
seem in the ** Appassionata ” sonata to be more directly face
to face with genius. In the later sonatas Beethoven often
speaks to us —in a style which had then become his mode of
utterance™through musical phrases, or ingenious turns of
expression that do not in the same degree as in the F minor
sonata reveal the inner spirit to the listener.
We are told that Beethoven himself called his Opus 57 his
a greatest sonata n and that it was the one he liked best to play

to others. This is very probably true* If we are to imagine

his piano-playing in its state of perfection—while he still, in
X
ltif BKKTHOVKN’B SONATAS

spite of deafnens, played to others 1b« “ AppassiotuU ” would

involuntarily occur to us in ibis respect.
Tliis is the Beethoven with whom moat of us are ;u quaintml,
and whom the writers of the romantic period have espcnally
fostered : the musical genius of “ Weltnchmeiz ” t Itat we meet
in this sonata. This idea about Beethoven is no doubt one¬
sided and hardly so common now as it once was, nevertheless
the F minor—in which there is no gleam of humour, of gaiety
or 0f joy_js a remarkable link in the chain ol sonatas, in
showing so typical a side of the composer’s character.
The dedication written above this sonata is a proof ol how
close it was to the Master’s heart. Beethoven bestowed it upon
Count Fran/, von Brunswick. The latter was one of a < ireje of
young noblemen, enthusiastieally interested in art, who had
gathered about Beethoven. The composer, on his part, had the
highest regard for Count Brunswick and was mi terms of cordial
friendship’with the cultivated and musical family to which he
belonged. He was a fret|ueut guest, in their home in Vienna,
and during the summer stayed at their country house in
Hungary. The fact that Count I'Yanz was an aide performer
on the violoncello was probably a furl her at t rael ion. Whet hoi
the Count’s sister, Theresa, who was Beethoven’s pupil in piano
playing, awoke any tender feelings in him is perhaps doubtful,
but it was in this borne that Beethoven met (delict t a (ittieeiardi,
a cousin of the young Brunswieks. We can understand how lie
would feel drawn to the family, at first because of the passion
that had been awakened in him, and later because ol memories
held in common with them. Only once wan there for a short,
time a break in their relations. The name ol Count I* ran*/, von
Brunswick on the title-page, is therefore a strong indu at Ion of
the value that the artist placed on the “ Appassioriata ’ sonata.
The first movement of the. sonata in its most, dramatic part,
as the contrasts in it are the most vivid and the tension is
strained to the utmost. The main theme (if the movement is
 'I'I IK “ AI’KASSIONATA ” SONATA 115

die great, peculiar, gliding F minor motif, which is strangely

weird, ghostly and threatening in character. With inspired
calculation this effect is doubled at the very beginning, by
placing the unison motif two octaves apart. As a writer of
keen observation remark!!, the uncanny ghostliness is increased
when the treble in played a little more faintly than the bass
(to which the theme by its nature really belongs). It sounds
asi if the motif were followed by its own shadow. Now it is
worth while pointing' out that the gloomy minor voice of this
theme dominated the whole movement in the first rough draft
of the sonata. “ Storm and darkness reign supreme, the
contrast. of gentleness is wanting.” It was not till later that
die artist found a secondary theme in A flat major, which, in
spite, of its gentle and soothing strains, is drawn from the
leading theme in a rather unique way. It is closely related to
it, both in its rhythmic and melodic features; it is its feminine
complement, one might say, formed from the masculine leading
rheme, as Kvc was formed from the rib of Adam. Hugo
Riemann calls such a resemblance between the two leading
themes in a sonata “ a fault in construction,” but it should be
easy to agree with this learned, though sometimes slightly
pedantic writer, when he does not “reproach the Master”
with it, especially as “ the result is a unity all the greater in the
whole of this tremendous movement.” On the other hand, it is
more difficult to understand those interpreters who profess
to sec something “ heroic ” in this second theme. It is clearly
» intended to produce a soothing effect after the lava-like stream
at the beginning of the sonata, but there was no room for gentle¬
ness, calm or security in this piece; the mind of its creator
was too agitated, under too violent a strain. We have already
heard the peculiar and mysterious “ knocking ” motif of disquiet
which occurs so frequently in Beethoven’s music at this time,
the chief instance being that of the C minor symphony, hence
called the “ Symphony of Fate.”
x 16 UK KTII0 VK N ’8 SON AT A S

The thenwi is now repeated in an ingenious way; ii begins

ominously pianissimo, aiul already in tin* next liar plunges
into a wild torrent of syncopated jiottns. We can observe how
notes of anxious foreboding quiver restlessly above ilie pedal-
point (E flat), a mode of effect usually intended also in licet .
hoven’s music -to show that peace and harmony have been
attained, but it is not so here; the passage rather neeuis to
indicate spasms of pain (sforzati) following alter the lirsi
tremendous outburst and yielding, through exhaustion and
resignation, to the A flat melody, k should be dear to us
now that this second theme will not be able to quell the
enormous powers that Beethoven has dared to call to life.
Nor can it do so; the second theme is not even allowed to sing
its phrase to the end, the storm again breaks into it and sweeps
it aside, After some hesitating and fluttering shakes, the theme
again rushes downwards, where its low rumblings express llie
distraction of a tormented soul.
A fight is fought out in this movement -the contrasts in it
are justified; it is this fight that gives the movement lib: ami
makes it dramatic. Peace and gentleness do not conquer <
but is the victory, then, to the weird terrors of night ? The
ending is characteristic in this respect. After the ominous,
threatening knocking motif has grown more and more powerful
it culminates at last in full chords, and the tormented son],
whose course we have followed through the whole movement,
sinks down, not to rest, but to dull pain, to silent, brooding;
during thepp tremoli in the treble, keeping on like faint quiver¬
ings of the soul, the leading theme sinks hack into itself more
and more, vanishes into the deepest depths of t he piano ■» at
last an all but soundless ppp fermato chord alone remains as an
eerie memory of all that has been lived through.
Then, without a pause, and as though under a compelling
need—-it could not be otherwise!—come the soft, deep strains
of the Andante, sounding like an imploring prayer for peace.
 'I’H I') “ A1TASSI0NATA ” SONATA 117

Willi lIk* imilinct of genius Beethoven lias made this part quite
:ihort. II(* has chosen hiu favourite form, variations, but he
liaa not allowed himself to he tempted either to futile dreaming
or complicated ingenuities. The whole is as simple, as con¬
centrated, one might1 almost say, as anxiously humble, as
required by the occasion. A virtuoso, then, cannot hope to
gather any laurels in this movement, and Reinecke aptly
remarks that “one must quite forget the performer, so that
neither the second variation sounds like a study, nor the last
one gets any Iraa: of e brilliance.’ ” The performer has to be
interpreter for a soul in torment, a soul at prayer. Nothing
else. But t here is about, the whole movement, and that is what
makes it, so difficult to perform,something rigid and incorporeal;
l his is true bot h of the melody itself and of the variations upon
it, and it is not without reason that the same key (D flat major)
prevails through nearly the whole piece. It is evident that
here we have not to do with reality. This melody and its
variations do not sing of a peace attained, only of a faint
trembling hope of it; we have to do with a disembodied
phantom. And listen now to the last restless displacements of
the melody after the variations are over—from one pitch
to another! Does not this make us feel the hesitation
and uncertainty of the soul? Immediately after, without
having been brought to its expected and natural conclusion,
the melody dies away into an impalpable ff arpeggio of a
dissonant chord--with a long-drawn fermato that should be
kept on a long time and slowly fall away into silence. Then
comes the jf arpeggio of the same chord on higher notes that
sound as if they would tear every hope of peace asunder, as
with a shriek they call back the terrible reality. This disson¬
ance, emphasised in heavily accented notes of battle—again
without a pause between the movements—introduces the
Finale,
And now—after the first flickering runs, coming down from
118 BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS
the highest treble, proclaiming the coming storm like warning
gusts of wind in the tree-tops—an impression from Nature
really seems to have inspired the Master hero -the storm breaks
again in the soul of the tone-poet, who did not attain to the
peace he had hoped for. The Finale rushes on like an unre¬
strained torrent, flinging cascades of foam in every direction;
even for Beethoven it is unusually violent and persistent in
its theme and tone. Nothing can stem the course of this
raging torrent, neither the small polyphonic passages nor the
syncopated and defiant staccato motif that flashes out for a
few moments not to return again. Twice only the stream seems
to sink into a trough (pp), but there is no sign of exhaustion,
such as in the first movement. Quickly the waves rise again
and break with undiminished force. This effect is character¬
istic of Beethoven, the tremendous excitement seems to grow
and grow as in the course of writing he gets warmer and
warmer and is carried away by the ardour of inspiration-—
in few other passages do we encounter this peculiarity of
Beethoven so clearly expressed or in a form which like this so
carries its hearers away. This movement overpowers us, not
so much by its beauty of form as by the tremendous energy
that maintains and constantly finds new expression for the
“ wild and impassioned character ” (Riemann) of the music.
May all good spirits of art preserve this movement from
becoming a virtuoso piece, a flying piano study ! It will be so
preserved if the performer will quite simply follow the com¬
poser’s own instructions as to tempi. He says Allegro ma non
troppo. If one is guided by the latter indication the character
of the movement will be preserved, and one will not be tempted
to make the concluding Presto a breathless and indistinct
Prestissimo—the Presto in which Beethoven, as never before
in the whole series of sonatas, introduces a quite new motif at
the very end, and one decisive of the conclusion of the piece.
This Presto proclaims as though with thundering hammer strokes
 THH “ APPASBIONATA” SONATA 119

the firm will, the artbi’s energy5, the defiance of destiny, that
relieve the wild draining arid soul-shattering despair of this
music. The character of this Finale is not without its share
in explaining why Shakespeare’s genius should be mentioned
in connection with the u Appasslonata ” sonata.
 CHAPTER XIr

After the great achievement of the “ Appassionata ” sonata,

Beethoven shunned this form of art for a long while, ft, Wan
as though he was afraid to take this instrument into his con
fidence again, so soon aft<!r tin* violent, the profound and
agitating self-revelation which that work had hern, lie had
composed, at about the same time as the F minor sonata,
the well-known thirty-two variations in C minor a superb
unfolding of art in a form dear to him and the beautiful
G major concerto, which as a whole is bright and serene.
After that the piano is silent for about two years, an a solo
instrument (apart from the choral fantasia in whit It the piano
appears in this form). When Beethoven again turns to his
favourite instrument it is to find expression Ibr quite other
moods than those torn by distracting passions, Henceforth
he avoids the gloom of the F minor which had meant: so much
to him in that work; once more only does he have recourse
to this key, and then only to employ it; in scherzo-form in a
short middle movement (Opus no). But during these years
of the Master’s life, rather uneventful outwardly, Ids genius
creates a series of great works. Ilia productive power had
never been more sovereign.
It seems as though the joy that Beethoven found in writing
for the piano had been rekindled by working at the K (hit
major concerto—the crown of all the concert oh for while
he is engaged on it he is also at work on the sonatas OpuH 78
79 and 81, as well as on the piano fantasia Opus 77, a work
not sufficiently appreciated by piano-players.
Outwardly these works came into existence at a troubled
120
 F SHARP MINOR SONATA 121
time, a distressing and pitiable time for Austria: her armies
had to retreat before the advance of the French, who in May
1809 penetrated into the suburbs of Vienna and fired upon
the city. This, as we know, terrified poor Beethoven so
much that he took refuge in the cellar of his brother Carl’s
house, and buried his head in blankets and pillows—probably,
too, because the booming of the cannon was doubly painful
to his diseased organs of hearing.
The three above-mentioned sonatas dating from the year
1809 are separated from the Opus 57 not only by the lapse
of time, they differ from it also in character and subject.
They form a sort of isolated island group in the series of the
sonatas, as they are separated on the other side from those
that succeeded them by a distance of six or seven years. The
return to the sonata form was, therefore, somewhat transient
and compact in duration—and, as said before, it occurred at
an unsettled time which had its effect upon Beethoven’s
impressionable mind. It is no wonder, then, that this period
is not the highest in his sonata composition, or that he has no
deep confidences to make in these works.
The Sonata Opus 78 cannot be said to have enjoyed the
particular favour or esteem, either of the executants of his
piano music, or of those who have written about it. A
natural cause of this will at once be found in its close proximity
to such distinguished works as Opus 53 and 57. Compared
to these giant trees in the Beethoven music-forest. Opus 78,
even outwardly, would look like a humble, almost insignificant
plant—one that in its own time was thought of but little
merit—and to which even later judges of musical taste paid but
slight heed ,• it was, in fact, quite overlooked by such a con¬
noisseur of art as A. B. Marx, in his book about Beethoven’s
sonatas. Lenz calls it “ une oeuvre k laquelle la main de Beet¬
hoven travailla, mais non pas son g^nie . . . ce sont deux
morceaux denu& d’interet dans une tonalitd monotone et
tzz BKKT1 TO VKN\S SONATAS

fatiguaite (!)/— O/XTfiy, on the oilier hand, Ms that thin

sonata has its values, and [Joints out “ the rulmimss, simplicity,
tenderness and devotion ” in the first movcimmi, which
« should be played with the most singing expression,1’ and
the w humour and gaiety ” in the last: movement, adding’ t hat
“ the sonata differs from all earlier ones in spirit and styled’
Nor have writers of a later day had so poor an opinion of
the F sharp major sonata, and they were able* to refer to the
fact that it was one of the sonatas which Beethoven himself
played by preference, and to his statement, which in probably
authentic, that u People are always talking about the C sharp
minor sonata (Opus 27), but after all, \ have done better
work, such as, for instance, the sonata in K sharp major.”
These casual words of the Master cannot, of course, be? upheld
before an artistic judgme 11t—ee r t;ain 1 y the* Opus 78 cannot rival
the C sharp minor—and Beethoven’a words, assuming t hat they
have been correctly reported and were meant to be taken
seriously, can be explained by the fact that t lie great Masters
do not always place the highest: value on their bnst works,
but are inclined to defend the weaker ones, whirl} have been
placed by general consent in the second rank. A growling
remark Eke the above-mentioned would fittingly come from
Beethoven’s lips, in irritation at the languishing enthusiasm
of hysterical ladies at the wonders of the “ Moonlight ”
sonata,#
Meanwhile the F sharp major sonata is not. a work of great
depth or width in subject, nor is this its aim. h must there¬
fore not be compared to Opus 27 or 57. ft; is probable enough

* Niels W. Cade valued this little sonata highly and often played the first, movement;
of it—playing the introductory Adagio with imcli charming eft ecu of I one, and such
great expression, that those who heard it never forgot the poetry in it. Perhaps this
predilection of Gade for the sonata can be (.raced bark to bin great admiration for
Felix Mendelssohn, who very probably had a great liking for thin sonata, as it h a
- well-known fact that he placed a high value, on Opus cjo, and greatly preferred it to
the later sonatas. The beauty of tone in Cade's playing may have been an echo of
the rendering of Mendelssohn, the greater artbit in piano-playing.
 F SIfARI* MINOR SONATA x 23

that it given Home impression of Ueethoveu’s improvisations

at the piano, as it has particular!/ been asserted that the
contemporary Fantasia Opus 77 does. He sits down to the
piano, the line, wildly beautiful head with its wealth of bushy
liair bent over the keyboard—in the attitude described by
contemporaries of the Master, when playing during his later
years and when his hearing was failing more and more. While
bis mind is filled with introspective dreaming, his hands
charm forth from the instrument that wondrously beautiful
and simple musical idea, so delicate in its fragrance and so
visionary in its tone, which forms the introduction of the
sonata, and which indicates the F sharp major mood, though
the idea itself is not pursued further or developed more fully
in the subsequent Allegro* The “ calm and tender ” move¬
ment joined to this introduction is a fine and delicate play
of tone, rather than a strictly worked out or richly varied
musical form: it expresses a gentle and balanced state of
mind, and is ingenious and sparing in its use of the tone effects
to be found in the piano. In so far it might well be placed
beside an improvisation and called a forerunner of the last
sonatas, especially of the new style of the E major and A flat
major. In the Finale the tone is gayer and freer; the
play of tom;, which is perhaps the best term for the subject
of this sonata, develops in a whimsical, as Czerny says, a
“ humoristic ” way, though there is no question here of the
bold and grand humour that we encounter in greater works

* Hugo Riemann, in bis often admirably penetrating analyses of the sonatas, is

inclined to call this Adagio a separate movement, and maintains that its theme it
found in a corresponding passage in the has® at the end of the Allegro, but it is difficult
to agree, with his opinion that this is “ more than a matter of chance.” A composer,
and at any rate a Beethoven, would hardly be so calculating. Riemann also points
out that the dosing figure in the introduction is a well-known “Mannheim

manner/’ Would this really be “more than a matter of

chance ” t
124 BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS
or in sonata movements in which 'Kee*tIiovc?n’:» mind really
flashes humour. The leading idea in the movement semis
like a playfully dropped question and answer; it does not
contain any amorous feeling or other passionate emotion.
The sonata has only these two movements. That is quite
reasonable, or one might say logical, for the whole sonata is
limited in mood, neither demanding great room nor long
time for development. The first: movement: the Adagio
CantaUle introduction and the: succeeding Allef*ro9 which is
expressly defined ma non trofypo, in of such a character that
a slow piece is not needed. The last movement can at the
same time take the part of a Scherzo and a Finale ; being
thus related to the Finales of Opus 14, No. 2, 26 and 54, but:
it is more graceful, more delicate, more gently playful than
any of these. Each movement ends with, a Coda which is well
worth noticing. Beethoven’s master hand has rarely drawn
with so few lines such, a shy, lingering grace as that of the
close of the first: movement, or such a dainty gaiety as the
Coda of the Finale.
While Beethoven in his V minor sonata, as though in an
inspired frenzy, modelled an imposing colossal statue like one of
Michael Angelo’s, he has in this E sharp major sonata prodm ml
a delicately chased little Tanagra figure- small enough to la-
held in the hand, and, if one may say so, of just, the kind
to be fondled carefully by the tender and understanding hand
of a musician. The concert-room is not the place for t his
sonata, and fortunately it is hardly ever heard there. The
tempestuous runs, the mighty chords, the Hashing accents
are gone; it is all like a filigree of sound, breathed softly from
the keyboard—even a Hans von Biilow calls some parts of it
a precarious.” How delicate and ethereal is this play of tone
can be seen from the fact that not only are Beethoven’s famous
and thundering basses entirely and necessarily absent, but the
whole subject is placed in a higher register than that generally
 K SHARP MINOR SONATA xz$

unrcNu the earlier sonatas, die treble clef replacing the bass
vM m these two short movements not less than sixteen times
m the Unit: Allegro, twenty times in the Finale, while the
left hand plays, roughly speaking, about a fourth part of the
hnit: movement; in the treble. This gives the sonata some of
its peculiar character; and the entire piano treatment—
wheie a single section with the dynamic contrasts might
suggest: an organ with its stronger and weaker manuals—the
alert attention to shadings in attack, the efforts to maintain
a particular mood in each, movement, causing the counter
thnne to retreat into the background—may, as Czerny says,
he called a a new style ” in Beethoven’s piano music.
Can it have been due to this circumstance that Beethoven
accorded it a particularly high place among its sister sonatas ?
It can hardly he said, though, that the F sharp major sonata
denote,'; a conscious change of artistic aim. Just as there is
in its .subject no trace of struggle, doubt or unrest, it does
not seem to .have come into the world after severe travail.
It is one ot the: somewhat few sonatas for which no sketches
have been found-—and this again would seem to indicate its
improvised origin. The sonata as it is, is one of those which
showa us another Beethoven than that genius of u Welt-
schmerz99 which a man like Remain Rolland, among the
newer writers, has described in a rather one-sided way in a
popular and widely read book about the Master.
The aortal a is dedicated to Theresa von Brunswick. From
what has been discussed above one would like to think that
it has grown from an improvisation played on a serene and
beautiful day at the country seat of the Brunswicks, Beet¬
hoven’s friends in Hungary. The sonata is generally believed
to have been composed there, and Thayer is of opinion, as
has been remarked, that it was this sonata, and not the “ Ap-
passionata,” that was written (according to Schindler) “ at
one stroke,” in Count Brunswick’s house. With a little
I2fi
BKKTJtOV KN'S SONATAS
imagination this summer mum of I1’ «liarj» major
the soft breezes stirring llie white lace curtain:; ami tit reaming
into the bright; and loft/ drawing-room with the garden
view, in which are heard the flinging strains of the piano.
The dedication has given rise to apeniialion ami writing.
Students who, like Thayer, have wanted 10 make There:,a
von Brunswick both Beethoven’u fianede and the “ immortally
beloved” to whom the letter mentioned in dealing with C )pun 27,
No. 2, was directed, have, of course, noted the Master’;!
appreciative words about the F sharp major with iiatinfac t.ion,
while Giulietta’s diampimni haves pointed out how little
value contemporary and' later eomtoifmiM placed upon this
so-called “ Theresa sonata.” If Beethoven’s feeling:; for the
two women are to be gauged by the sonata which lie dedicated
to each of them, there can be no doubt an to wbidi old be
ladies carries oil the prize ! Meanwhile there is no pariicu-
larly solid ground for thinking that there were tender relations,
or that even a definite understanding existed between Beet¬
hoven and Theresa. Kvidcnre of this has been pointed
out in a phrase occurring in a letter from Beethoven to the
young lady’s brother: “ Kiss your sister Theresa for me ami
tell her I am afraid I shall become ‘ great ’ without her having
contributed to it with a monument,” These words were
written in 1807, when Countess Theresa, or rather J herema,
was already twenty-nine years old, and they were doubt less
only an Austrian form of courtesy and friendship ; in everyday
talk the phrase “ Kiiss die Hand ” was not taken so literally 1
The concluding words are a humorous allusion to the craze
of the wealthy and aristocratic of those days-—and no probably
also the Brunswicks—for erecting statues, or perhaps mostly
memorial tablets, in their houses or gardens, in honour of
those whom they idolised most in the world of art. It is
scarcely probable that the words had anything to do with a
tender passion.
 V SHARP MINOR SONATA i %j
Prom portrait!! of her, Therena Brunswick is known to us as
a handsome woman with noble classical features, but a some¬
what cob 1 expression, and wearing the Roman costume so
mi!( h in favour at the time and also characteristic of her own
taste. We know that she wan a com,potent pianist and that
die had tin* highest regard for Beethoven both as an artist
and a mam She presented him with her portrait with the
words : u To the rare genius, the great artist, the good man,
from T. B.” .But no one is justified in drawing further con¬
clusions from these few facts and attributing serious feelings
for the Countess to Beethoven.
Moreover Theresa von Brunswick had at the age of sixteen
made a vow never to marry—romantic as she seems to have
been .—and she kept her vow. She lived so late as 1861 in
a secular convent or community of ladies of rank in Brunn.
After her death the contention about her relations with
Beethoven led to the production of her diary, in which she has
given a very vivid picture of the Master and their first
associations with each other :
“ Beethoven could never be induced to comply with a mere
request from us ” (it concerned his giving lessons to Theresa
and her sister Josephine), “ but if we would undertake to
climb to the third storey by the narrow winding stairs at St.
Peter’s Square # and pay him a visit, the result was guaranteed.
Then it was like this. We went like school-girls, with Beet¬
hoven’s sonatas for piano and violin and violoncello under our
arms, into Ms roon. The dear, immortal Louis van Beethoven
was very kind and as courteous as he could be.”
a After the exchange of a few compliments he made me sit
down at his piano (which was out of tune) and I began at
once, singing the violin or the ’cello part to the music

# The old-faihioned itone winding stairs in Viennese houses, of which there was
mill one left at the end of the last century, leading up to the Hat in which Johannes
Brahmi lived.
Iz8 BEETHOVEN'S SONATAS

and playing quite ,,My. I In « l-«-M

,0 come every day to >l,„ • (ifril.' _ O^diaMy .Ik,
town residence of 1:1,o IlrimiiwiAi.) Una waa M-“' 1 'TO
(Xliercsa wai tlien twei.ly-oiie). “ lie <»ll‘e IreijneMlIy, Inn
instead of staying an hour until twelve o < lo. k, lie often
stayed until four or five and did not grow tired of keeping
my fingers turned inwards or of bending them. I hat. "I ’[endnl
man must have been very pleased with me, for lie did not,
miss coming once during sixteen daytt and by that t une we
had formed a sincere and cordial friendship which bailed i<> the
end of his life.” . .
Would it not seem that than few lines give the true,
unadorned relation between the great composer and the
young Countess? The amorous feelings attributed to this
friendship are not easy to find in Theresa von Brunswick s
simple and natural account.
Ai<< 111»tjki«; Kudoi.i
 CHAPTER XIII

The little sonata (or sonatina) in G major, Opus 79, does

nor, certainly, take a high place among the sonatas surrounding
it, but there is no reason to ignore it in an account of the
sonatas, as some writers have done. So much the less because
it is undoubtedly not, as some have said, an early work which
has been revived, but one that has been created during this
period. Outlines for the first movement can be found in a
sketch-book of 1809 together with the plans for considerable
works like tin; string quartet Opus 74, the E fiat major
piano concerto, the music for u Egmont,” etc. Besides, the
fact that: Beethoven had first sketched out the beginning of
the sonata in another key before he decided on G major,
would seem to be an indication that it was not an old idea
which was now taken up afresh. On the other hand, the
title of the sonata, which already appears in the sketch-book,
Sonata faeik, shows that the small opus was intended from
the first to be a piece of music easy to play and easy to dispose
of, or to be used for teaching purposes. Though it is not
unreasonable to compare it with the small sonatas of Opus 49,
this cannot be done without some reservations. The Opus 79
belongs to a later period, and although modest in appearance
and extent, with its normal three movements it is a broad and
elaborate work, even though one would not care to be so
subtle as Hans von Billow, who in the style of a phrase or two
would see an annunciation of the sonatas of the u last period ”
to come so soon after.
The first movement re-echoes the folk-music of Vienna
K 129
,3o BlUiTItOVKN’S SONATAS

more directly than any oilier sonata. ^ 'IV “ luutdler" ami

wall:*/, are gaily and lightly miirored in this mush and the
compos,* himself has alluded to tln-m by heading it “Alla
tedesea.” This leada liana von Biilow lo maintain that
Beethoven’ri “handler” music ia more inspired, that in,
more “manly” than that: of l-Vati/, Schubert. la there really
any ground lor this assertion, or any reason at all to pit tin-
two masters against: eaeh other in this small field of art ? II
one did, one might: rather point out that the “ handler” of
Schubert express'unadulterated Viennese gaiety in a graceful
and charming laisser tiller manner, while Beethoven has trans¬
lated the classic Viennese (lanre into a more at atlemit language.
A premonition of Mendelssohn's Lieder nhne If nete has been
found in the Andante, and Beethoven’s later piano works have
undoubtedly been derisive in the mush ol tin- roman tie
composers for the piano, nor ran a melodie resemblance
between the beginning of the Andante and one of the Lieder
in the same tonality ((! minor) be denied. Vet an attentive
ear will almost certainly perceive the diHert-nte between lids
artless Andante and ihe conscious emotionalism ami drawing
room tone of the Mendelssohn Lieder.
The little sonata, which concludes with a merry and gtat eful
Vivace, was most likely not of min h importance in Beethoven's
life and work. It is significant, in this cornier lion, that il was
issued without any dedication.

The significance that may be found in such a dedication,

and its importance in understanding the work that, carries it,
is shown in the next sonata, Opus fft in K flat major. 'I his
sonata is dedicated to ihe Archduke Rudolph, and this circum¬
stance is the key to understanding it.
The Archduke Rudolph was one of the very few who could
venture to call himself Beethoven’s pupil; according to
Ferdinand Ries the only one besides Rie» himself. The sonata
 “ LEBEWOHL ” SONATA, OPUS 81 i3i

movements arc Leaded: “Das Lebewohl,” “Die Abwesen-

lieit;,” “ Das Wiedersehen ”; * and it has generally been called
tlie “ Lebewohl Sonata ” after the subject of the first move¬
ment, sometimes also “ Lcs Adicux,” but with a delicate ear for
language, Beethoven protested against this French heading
(an amendment by an enterprising publisher), because, as he
said, “ Lebewohl ” and “Lcs Adicux ” are not quite the
same; the first expresses an intimate leave-taking between
two friends, the other sounds more official. Perhaps the
circumstance that Beethoven so frequently heard this fare¬
well greeting in Vienna from the lips of the unpopular French
officers had a share in his dislike of the expression.
Now, if one did not know better, it would be very tempt¬
ing to look for amorous moods in this musical work: the
separation of two lovers, their longing for each other and
the joy of reunion, i Strange to say, even a man like A. B.
Marx, who as a Beethoven biographer was acquainted with
the dedication and its origin, describes and interprets the
subject of the sonata as though it were a question of a love
aflair : “ Momcnto aus dem Leben eines liebenden Paares.’^t
In the first and last movements he hears the duets of the
male and female voices—it bothers him a little, but only a
little, that sometimes the two must be supposed to be singing
in four voices!—and perceiving that there is no real pain or
passion at the moment of parting, he praises the Master’s
“ true restraint ” ! J JPOthers have regarded the sonata in the
same light, and in the Finale even a Hans von Biilow soars to
the heights of hearing an annunciation of the passionate

1# The Farewell, The Absence, The Return.

“ Incidents in the life of a pair of lovers.”
Behnke, the editor of the new edition of Marx's Beethoven biography, defends
him on the assumption that Beethoven wrote or sketched out the sonata (t.e. in
reality only the first movement) before the Archduke left Vienna in May 1809. If
there seems to Be a point here that has not been or cannot be explained, it is definitely
put in the background by the fact that Beethoven himself gave the sonata the above-
mentioned sub-titles and dedicated it to the Archduke.
j32 BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS

meeting of “ Tristan and Imhh ” in «I*' ^m\ m « .* Rj« hard

Wagnef’a music drama, although a noun,I and natural per¬
ception and an artistic understanding of IVr.hovrn ■< .m.s.c
can find in it none, of the seminal and |.a:,*.tn»ai«-, the over¬
excited eroticism which Wagner has reproduced ... Irntnn,
Here it is that the dedication is on "" ,h'- who
view of the sonata. 'There is ..«t U»- “
erotic feelings in it, notion;f,f :u,X
parting or reunion. It is cllll,tl .nmpy •* * *'
from Beethoven to his distinguished pup. atul we know
from the manuscript that “Das Eebewohl was <ompoed
(or completed) on Map 4, iBoy, “ at the H.-jjai 1 of 11
Imperial Highness, the honourable Archduke Rudolph ; wh h
the last piece, written January 30, iHw, >« <on, erned wuh his
“ Ankunft ” (arrival). ....... n ,
Tin a letter to the>bltslicra, Hrcu.kopf ami 7
•* “
hoven calls this sonata “greatly characlerisiic. hm w t
further indication of the angle Iron, who h H ought to
regarded, fit is a work having for its object the reprodu, not
of character (psychology) like that whh I. I laydn also a. templet
in some of his sonatas. But a musician of such delicate per
ception as Beethoven would hardly use tin- exprens.ou ‘ < har
” about a piece of music on a aubje, I ol aiuorou
emotion. T” .
Using The term in a distinguished sense the sonata, may the:
be called a work “ written for a special occasion,” and the char
1
acter of the music shows it. This is not a tone poem prodtn e
by a mind under great pressure; it does not contain an artist
confession of faith; it is not the broad and mellow puint.n
of an ecstatic; rather is it a delicate and daintily diase
farewell and welcome, of the kind that, might it. those duj
be found in the autograph book of a friend or benefit, to
They could be written without much emotion, and at tl
mere cost of a little thought and wit; such as the first mow
 'Hkktiiovicn (r, i*Si<|).
{From an on ((raving hv If twirl ttflrr thr
drawiiif' hy l.oiiis /wtraunr.)
 “ LEBKWOHL ” SONATA, OPUS 81 133

mrni, which in a graceful and ingenious play on the word

“ hcbewobl ” expressed hy means of the so-called horn-fifths.
Il in quite in Beethoven’s manner that he bids his depart¬
ing friend farewell, not only in the first bars and in the
subsequent ones, in which the three notes are the leading
ones and are distinctly prominent, but that he varies them
here and there, letting them occur, now in a slightly sad
accent, now a little playfully, until the delightful close, in
which the sigh of the last farewell seems to fade away linger¬
ingly through the air—until the two f chords put an end to
emotion. And in the last movement: the soaring joy of
reunion, a couple of bars that seem to picture a gay waving
of a handkerchief in welcome—bars that might perhaps for a
moment turn one’s thoughts to Isolde’s greeting before the
extinction of the torchlights—and then a gay, almost frisky
joy in having the absent one back again; in a second theme
tliat is like a boyish hopping about and clapping of hands.
Deeper feelings are not uttered in these two movements.
When we arc acquainted with the event that occasioned this
Opus, we can understand that Beethoven could not have been
inspired hy them.
The casual origin of the sonata also explains that Beethoven
did not display all his genius in its execution. This work, in
its own way, has some of the same offhand, improvised stamp
as its predecessor, Opus 78, and so far the two works illumine
each other. Note, for instance, notwithstanding the greater
compass of the Opus 81, the comparatively short modulation
part compared to that of the “ Appassionata ” sonata.
There is a notable kinship between Opus 78 and 81, in which
Beethoven is seen to be less occupied with great and impressive
subjects, than in ranging with masterly ease over a light and
transparent play of tone. For it really means that this little
island group (as it was called in a previous chapter) in the
series of the sonatas forms a transition to a period in Beet-
134 IiKKTfIOVKNfB SONATAS
ho?enfi work In which the creative lit*jmlor Is waning,
next subsequent years prodtn e altogether only a small number
of new works, Not until there m lom y'*;us burn dors tin4
desire to cmtlc again gather force,, partly urged mt by exterior
(political) events, anti in 1814 Bern In wctt, art we know* expert.
ences a ** glorious ” year. Wt it in 4 quru inn of only 4 brief
lliekering-up -several rat In*r dull years follow, and apart from
tin: single K minor sonata Opus yo, seven whole yean front
the appearance of Opus Hi woo* to pass before Brrthoven
again added to and closed the glorious setirs of Uh piano
sonatas*
Tins change in Beethoven's productive power albtded to
here and beginning about the year iHoy <armor, as Thayer
has pointed out, be attributed to Iiirt inrrrasmg years. It.
was too sudden and unmistakable for that, and besides, Beet¬
hoven wan mill in the lull vigour of manhood, For the sake
of continuity and because of tin* light who h it thrown forward
cm the succeeding sonata works, a few points which may have
been decisive shall be noted here. Beet liovrids |ri tors of thin
period contain exclamations of despair, the evidence of a
mind distracted almost to the point of disease, I (err are one
or two examples: in rHio to his friend, Dr. Wrgrler:
u* » • (oi late years) I have been dragged by fence into the
life of the world; 1 have not, yet ami any result, from it,
rather the contrary -yet who ran remain unaffe<trd by the
storms from without? And yet I should be happy, perhaps
the happiest of mankind, if this demon had not made its
dwelling in my ears. If I had not; read somewhere 1 hat, no
one must of his own free will quit this life, so long as he ran
still perform a good deed, 1 should long since .have ceased to
exist—and by my own hand. Ah, life Is so beautiful, but
for me it is for ever poisoned! ” Or in 1808 to Baron von
Gleichenstem, Beethoven's young friend during these years:
“ % mufit again look for communion, then, within my own
 (. (. LKBKWOIIL ” SONATA, OPUS 81 135

breast, there in nothing for me from without; no, friendship

and kindred feelings have caused me nothing but wounds,
lie it. so, then, there is no exterior happiness for you, poor
Beethoven, you must create it all within yourself—you will
find friends only in the ideal world.”
1 lore, then, we see the causes of his depressed state of mind :
despair at the demon which, rages more and more in the
Master’s ears; disappointment when he again made approaches
to the world about him—social life—giving up the solitude
to which he fled for a time in order to work in peace; a dis¬
appointment caused not only by his influential friends, but
still more by frustrated plans of marriage. For at this time
Beethoven was entertaining such plans—he might then have
become “ one of the happiest of mankind,”—and his friend
wounds him because he will not help and support him in the
projected plan. It occupied Beethoven’s mind so much,
that in the letter to Wegeler he urgently requested the latter
to procure his birth certificate in Bonn; “the'sooner you
can send it: to me, the greater will be my obligation.” Whom
did Beethoven now wish to marry? It is not known for
certain, ft was at one time believed to be the handsome
but superficial and quite young Theresa Malfatti, daughter
of Beethoven’s physician and sister-in-law to the young Baron
von (Jleidiensteln. It is now generally thought that his
dreams of matrimony were concerned with the celebrated
Belt ina Brentano, that remarkable, gifted and fantastic-
romantic writer, whose artist enthusiasm for Beethoven was
extraordinary to the verge of ecstasy, as she herself has shown
in her book, Goethe1 s Correspondence with a. Child, which must
not be read as a historical document, however, in so far as it
is concerned with Beethoven’s person and the conditions of
his life. Judging from the information acquired by later
research, one is led to be somewhat sceptical with regard
to Bettina’s version of her relations with Beethoven, and this
 8Mras=as»

136 B 1C KT MOV 1C N18 SONATAS

consequently also places bin matrimonial plans In a doubtful

light But there can Bn no doubt that the albpwrrt k of
these; plans whatever tin* reason, or with whomsoever liny
worn concerned -was a great blow to Brelhoven arid added
to lii» despondency and weariness;;, and there i;i no indication
that: he found any relied* this time? in bin art,
Beethoven’s mind was al:io oppressed and rmbitiereul by
the political atat:e of affairs at home? and abroad u who would
not feel the effect of the storms from without?” at, the
degradation of hit) adopted country. The* improvement after-
wards was therefore almost one of overexcitement, and the?
conditions prevailing in the country, which tormented hi;;
spirit of freedom, were? a further source of annoyance and
anxiety at the gemeral economical distress. ()n t hi;; latter
point bis care gradually reached an acute* stage*, verging on
the morbid.

The Archduke? Rudolph, to whom the sonata is dedi< ateul,

was born in 1788, and was tlmrelbre mue h younger than
Beethoven. He was brother to (hr reigning Kmperor and,
like so many members of tin's royal family we* nerd mention
only the two illustrious ladies;, Maria Theresa and Marie*
Antoinette- was gifted with a remarkable? musical talent ; in
common with contemporary members of the aristocracy in
Vienna he was fond of showing his interesit in music’ by giving
musicians his patronage, lie bad mvivetd his training as a
pianist and amateur composer from Taybe*r, the old Court
musician, but the grounding he had obtaine*d in these lessons
was termed “poor” by Beethoven—though this remark may
have been due to bad humour at the time. In any case Bret-
hoven’s teaching, which is said to have begun about 1804^
must have worked wonders, for later on we find in the Master’s
letters expressions of unbounded enthusiasm at the? musical
productions of his pupil—so strong, indeed, that one slightly
doubts his sincerity.
 “ r.KBKworrL” sonata, opus 8i i37

Beethoven mack: an exception in oyercoming his dislike of

(caching, being pleased to have the enthusiastic young Prince
a» an adherent, and hardly unaffected by his exalted social
panition. Although it could not over-awe the republican
spirit of the ariist, he would not fail to see its practical value.
The relations between the Prince and himself continued until
his deatli—and nothing is known of any real breach between
them during all these years. It is now generally believed
that the extracts which Beethoven (about 1809) was engaged
in making from, works on the theory of music, and which
Seyfried has edited as a sort of forgery as Beethoven's Studies,
were meant to be used in teaching the Archduke, and to form
(lie foundation of the lessons. It can hardly be supposed
that Beethoven, who had no experience as a teacher, could
with his temperament be an ideal or even systematic guide,
bill: there can, of course, be no doubt about the enormous
influence of such an artist personality, or the significance of
consultations witli him on music.
' To Beelhoven this relationship of master and pupil gradually
became a burden and a nuisance, which he did not conceal and
would have liked to throw off.) Yet it would not have been
either easy or wine to break with the Archduke. For two
reasons. Partly because Rudolph was not only his pupil,
but, at the same time his unfailing friend (whose soft, ingratiat¬
ing voice, by the way, Beethoven was able to hear longest),
and with a certain pride Beethoven points this out when
writing (to his lawyer) that “ the Archduke treated him more
as a friend than as a servant,” a phrase that in a brief formula
defines the difference between the eighteenth century, with
the social position of such famous Masters as Haydn and
Mozart, and the new century that had just dawned, Partly
because, in spite of everything, there was in Beethoven’s blood
an inherited reverence for a royal personage. What did it
not mean, to be an anointed king or emperor in those days,
and here was a near relative of one ! And what humble and
I38 liliKTIIOVHN’S sonatas
humiliating years, in an intense feeling of depemiem e on the
Regent, had Beethoven not lived through in Bonn! lie
would hardly attain to complete freedom lrom ll.is feeling
towards the J’rinco -this at any rate must explain the more
than respectful tone in the letters to the An hduke.
Beethoven’s relations with the Archduke, then, had a certain
doublencss. Opposed to those almost servile letters and
notes there are oral and written utterances to others which
show ill-will, annoyance and bitterness in regard to his tutor¬
ship and his dependence on the Archduke. According to
Bettina Brentano, though she is not, a very reliable witness,
Beethoven, for instance, was indignant at. having to wait, m
an ante-room at the Archduke’s, and is said to have given
vent to his opinion in unmistakable terms, that this was not
the way to treat a Beethoven. To a Swiss visitor Beethoven
declared that “ teaching was tin-some work; In* had only one
pupil and would like to gel rid or him if lie could,” Thai
was the Archduke. Onee, when |,e was asked wild lu-r Rudolph
played well, he answered with a short, laugh, u Yes, wle-n lie
is in good form,” adding that In* has sometimes had to strike
him across his lingers during the lessons. In speaking ol their
relationship Beethoven even went so far as writing lojties
(who has left out ihe words in Ids liinpriiphuuil NtilfC) : “ My
unfortunate connection with this Archduke is almost bringing
me to beggary.” The outburst dales from the later years
and was caused by rage at: having to waste time and thought
on a tutorship, which—in spite of Beethoven’s revolt, and
anger—was of course arranged (o suit, the wishes and con*
veniencc of the pupil. I laving to stand at, attention like t hit
and to be the butt of highly trained courtiers with their
finicking rules of etiquette into the bargain (lor thoie aie
records of this also), must have ruffled Beethoven’s feelings
intensely.
On the other hand, Beethoven could mention the Arch-
 “ LKBKWOIJ \, ” SONATA, OPUS 8r 139

tlukc’a name “ with a childlike reverence such as for no other,”

And undoubtedly he would be deeply touched when the
Archduke, in common with the still younger Count Kinsky
and IMnee Lobkowitz, who was slightly older, drew up that
reversion in which, in order to secure Beethoven to their own
country of Austria (a remunerative offer of an appointment
as conductor of the Court orchestra had been made to him
from Cassel by King JerSme), they guaranteed him an annual
allowance of 4000 gulden, of which 1500 were guaranteed
by the Archduke (there does not seem to have been any
question of solidarity amongst the guarantors), “ so that the
necessities of life need not embarrass him or hamper his
great genius.” * Beethoven received the document at the
very time we have reached in the account of the sonatas. On
March 1, 1809, he formally endorses it: “ Received from the
hands of H.R.H. the Archduke Rudolph.” But this cup of
joy was also to be mingled with gall. In 1811 the unfortunate
letters patent were already issued, by which it was hoped
that the finances of the much-exhausted empire might be
re-established. It reduced paper currency to one-fifth of its
value and Beethoven’s prospects of a security from care in the
future were considerably lessened, although the Archduke
Rudolph, at Beethoven’s request, generously consented to
keep his contribution up to the whole of its original value.
But it was a bitter pill for Beethoven to swallow, in regard
to this, that “ the Court entourage, in spite of all apparent
friendship, express their opinion that my claims are unjust!!!!!
Ab, Heaven, help me to bear it; I am no Hercules who can
help Atlas to sustain the world or even do it instead of him. . . .
I cannot go on living here much longer in this shameful way !
Art, persecuted art, can find a refuge everywhere ! ” Was
* It has been thought, perhaps with some reason, that the handsome object of the
donation was that Beethoven might be spared the disappointment it would have
been for him, deaf as he was, to be made a “ Kapellmeister ” (conductor of a Court
orchestra),
 BKKTIIOVKN’S sonatas

he thinking then of the 14 Hut eonr-rio, with h immediately

Wore ihm linen wen- written Innl been a lailur,* a, the per¬
formance in Vienna, hut, in la-ipwtf had nm.-ted the audience
to an enthui:i:i!iin which could hardly remain content to allow
it. appreciation and pleasure in the ordinary way ? Later on
Prince Kinaky’ii unreliability, and noon alter, bin amhlen death,
followed by Prince Lobkowilz being declared incapable ol
managing his allairs, led the matter of the allowance into
lengthy and distraining lawsuits.
In 1820 the Areluluke watt made Prince Archbishop of
Olmiitz. It is probable that t bin promoi ion had led Beet ho veil
to entertain further expectations. In theae, too, he wan
disappointed, the Archduke took no steps in bin favour, hut,
as said before, their friendly relation!! continued, and all tin*
dedications, through which Beethoven has bestowed humor
tality on the Archduke’ll name, would tieem to show that, the
friendship meant something to him. Besides 1 he “ I wbewohl ”
sonata there are the (J major and K Hat major piano < one mos,
the piano trio Opus 97, the violin sonata <)pit!i <;6, the A//1 ut
solmnis, the great, “ Ilainmerklavier ” sonata Opus tod and
the sonata Opus nr, and finally the “great lugue,” Opus 133.
To no other name has Beethoven so often given the honour
of a place on the title-page til his works and, as it is seen,
on some of his greatest.
It cannot he asserted that the Areluluke*, in his relation!!
with Beethoven—which have been dealt with at greater length
here, as they arc also concerned with the Sonata Opus 106 ■
showed his appreciation of the glorious gilts which made his
name immortal, by making a return. His great admiration
of the Master, notwithstanding his charming manner and
disposition, did not prevent him, as one writer has said, Irom
sometimes showing himself as the ruler to his famous teacher,
and in a deeper sense he neither understood nor valued at his
true worth the man or the genius Beethoven. So little, indeed,
 “ UCBKWOIIL ” SONATA, OPUS 8x 141

did the Archduke think of this, that during Beethoven’s last

years in Vienna lie would still make claims upon the ageing
and ailing Master daily for two or three hours, so that Beet
hoven was afterwards too worn out to do any other work.
The discontented remarks that he often let fall about his
royal pupil and friend, can easily be understood. To compare
this relationship with that of Goethe and Charles Augustus,
or even, with, that of J. S. Bach and Prince Leopold, cannot
be done, let loyal German biographers say what they will.
 CHAPTER XIV

There is only one stage more before we reach that of the

“ last sonatas.” For nearly five years Beethoven had forsaken
the piano, then he wrote this one sonata in E minor. It is
numbered Opus 90 and was composed in 1814, the date,
August 16, most probably being that of its completion. Like
the sonatas mentioned in the foregoing chapters, it stands
alone, separated from them by a lapse of five years, and from
the next in the series, Opus 101, by more than one yean
Does this circumstance contribute to our appreciation of
this two-movement sonata ? Perhaps it does, tor in what
other ways was Beethoven’s mind occupied at this time ?
The sketch-books contain an outline of the sonata (especially
the first part) facing a reconstruction of “ Fidelio.” It was
at this time that the Master’s friends thought that the unsuc¬
cessful opera should be given its rightful place, now that he
was once more a celebrity in Vienna, and seen again in Viennese
society. In his joy at the fall of <£ the tyrant ” and the
re-establishment of the country of his choice, he submitted
to being feted, not only by the Viennese, but also by a great
number of royal personages assembled in Vienna for the great
Peace Congress. The Beethoven with whom we are now to
become acquainted is rather different from the one we have
hitherto known; this is the Beethoven who composed that
noisy piece: “ Wellington’s Victory,” or “ The Battle of
Vittoria,” dedicated to the Prince Regent of England, after¬
wards George IV. For political reasons this piece naturally
 K MAJOR, OPUS 90 143

brcaim: more popular than any of Ms other works and was

published in many different arrangements. This is the Beet¬
hoven who wrote that very insignificant choral work, “Der
glorrcinhe Augenblick,” as a tribute to no less than three
sovereigns, the Austrian, Russian and German. This is the
composer of tins chorus, “ Germania, Germania,” to be sung
in a “ patriotic ” musical play at the Karntnerthor-Theatre.
Further, it was he who presented the Empress Elisabeth
Alexievna of Russia with a polonaise for piano, composed
during the same year, 1814. This Beethoven rather enjoys
the adulation of emperors and kings, and he tries, though
without much, success, to make the most of this favourable
state* of affairs from a financial point of view, but it is only
fair to state that in this lie was acting under exterior influence.
In all the simplicity of In's artist soul Beethoven sunned
himself in this radiant light, not reflecting that it was transient
and largely a matter of chance. Once the Congress was over
his brilliant fame would vanish and the memory of him fade
from the minds of the celebrated and for the most part rather
worldly guests of this Congress, through which they danced
and feasted their way without any thought of the value of
Beethoven as a man or an artist. Disappointment was in
store for him. Even his gay Viennese soon deserted him
and followed quite a different, anything but “ Germanic ”
taste.
Now the piano sonata Opus 90 is the only work produced
by Beethoven at this time, so to speak, without any exterior
impulse. It is the only one to which “ the world ” had not
enticed or urged him, the only one in which he has retired
into himself, to quiet communion with his true, inner spirit.
No publisher, no impresario, no theatre manager or arranger
of festivals was waiting to receive the Master’s finished work
and use it to his own advantage, nor was it intended for any
royal patron.
,+4 BKETUC) YEN’S SONATAS

Wc may regard iliiti sonata, then, (In* only ImIrjx-ntlrnl

lyrical work of this period, in which (lie Muster was caught
in a worldly vortex that absorbed Ida energy, aa in a way a
confession. Its opening ham seem to he a direct imlit at ion that
the Master is seeking to tear himself away with a wrench from
all the enticing glitter of the world that held him enthralled
feTwM*, t,ul Hut l,« to ... Tl„:
first Allegro tells of this struggle to return to his better self,
of changing moods of a courageous spirit, ol self confidence,
resignation and timidity. The movement is < haraelrrised as
much by its inner feeling as by its musical beauty of form ;
we hear again Beethoven’s own language, to which he has
returned after having spoken in strange tongues. The sketch¬
books, too, seem to show that from the outset Beethoven was
conscious that the sonata wan to he made up ol these contrasts.
We find, immediately after the outline for the beginning, of
the sonata, without any intervening passage, tlm following
bars:

the word “Ende” being written above them. This would

seem to be a rarity in Beethoven’s numerous sketches, and
shows that at the very moment when the idea took shape in his
mind, those beautiful bars with their luminous soaring notes,
 K MAJOR, OPUS 90 145
followed immediately by sad resignation, were to be the close
of (he son,ata. He has even kid a particular stress on these bars
by carefully providing this first outline of them with expression
marko—a somewhat rare occurrence in the sketch-books;
indeed he has written a poco ritemto, which was omitted in the
printed sonata, probably because he felt it was so obvious that
directions for it were unnecessary.
Yet, though the movement closes on a note of resignation in
those final bars, it; contains no feeling of emptiness or aridity,
in spite of the a drop ” to the lower octave; still less is there
any of that “ Nirvana mood 33 that some would find in the later
works of Beethoven. This ending forms the natural passage
to a final movement—a Rondo with the significant additional
directions in German : u nicht zu geschwind und sehr singbar
vorgetragen 3—in which a gentle peacefulness, a quiet feeling
of interior happiness finds expression. This movement
distinctly expresses a mood of restfulness, or symbolises it by
the continual return of the lovely, singing melody, always in
the same form, in key, in rhythm and in harmonies. This
monotony, which has often been unjustly criticised as wearisome
or a long,33 forms a picture of entire harmony and repose; its
effect Is almost that of a soothing cradle-song. Many later
composers of the romantic school have modelled their instru¬
mental or vocal lyrics upon it. How many are there not, to
whom Schubert and his u Rachlein 33 will be recalled on hearing
this melody. And yet—there is a difference, not very palpable,
it is true, but perceptible to a delicate ear. Perhaps it is best
explained as consisting in this: that in the case of Beethoven
we have to do with absolute music, music that is self-sufficient,
while the romantic composer^ music is descriptive, it is not
quite self-sufficient, it is music, so to speak, with a co-ordinate
intention.
Now, when you play or hum this beautiful, simple melody,
which seems to have arisen as spontaneously as a folk-song, you
L
,4,6 ItKKTJiOVKN’S SONATAS

m\) perhaps be surprised to T-arti dial it linn arose in Beet.,

hoven’o mind in a less perfect. form, viz.:

a series of notes which he, wit h his genius, knew how to re-shape
and convert into that, immortal melody hy a change in
the up-beat arid the addition of one note.
liana von Billow has made the apt remark that the sonata,
which consists only of these two movements, should be played
respectively as though “ spoken ” and “ sung.” It in a musical
mode of expression related to that with which we have met
in the Allegretto in Opus 14 (and which, as it happens, is also
in K minor).
Altogether the sonata belongs in a marked degree to the
“intimate” ones, to those that have no message for the
concert-room, where it is, in lael, seldom heard.
If, in view of the foregoing remarks, this sonata is to lie
regarded as the Master’s abrupt farewell to die dm rim and
vain pomps of this world, and as his quiet, surrender to a purer
and nobler world of the spirit, then it naturally leads on 10
the “last sonatas.” lake a beautiful gate through which is
seen a bright firmament, it is an entrance to all that is remote
from a world which these last works would forsake and abandon.
There was, in earlier days, a more earthly and 1 onummplare
interpretation of this K minor sonata, but. it was not a very
plausible one. It is connected with the dedication with which
Beethoven sent it forth into the world. The sonata is dedicated
to Count Moritz Liclmowsky, a brother to the Count Car]
mentioned earlier. He was a talented musician, and a pupil
of Mozart himself, a fact which no doubt increased Beethoven’s
interest in him. There is every proof, not, least in the letters
 E MAJOR, OPUS 90 147
that have been preserved, that the relations between the
composer and the Count were friendly and confidential, even
though the suspicion and strong independence of the former
may at times have caused difficulties.
The sonata was now interpreted on the strength of this
dedication, and on the following grounds. The Count, who
had been divorced from his first wife, and had but lately
married a young and beautiful Viennese dancer, is said to
have asked Beethoven what the sonata meant, and to have
received the answer, given with “ a boisterous laugh,55 that
the first movement represented “ a struggle between the head
and heart,55 the second u a conversation with the beloved,55
this being a supposed allusion to the Count’s matrimonial
affairs. This at once led to an interpretation that was very
much in favour for some time, of Beethoven’s music, as
expressing a struggle between two principles, and it was now
applied to tins sonata.
Nevertheless, the dedication seems to have meant more to
Beethoven than a mere matter of courtesy. At any rate he
writes in September 1814, to Count Moritz: . . in order
that you may not think that I have taken this step with ulterior
thoughts of advantage or the like, I wish to tell you that a
sonata of mine will soon be published and be dedicated to you.
I had intended to surprise you with it, the dedication having
long since been meant for you, but your letter of yesterday 55
(which, as Beethoven says at the beginning of his letter, “ heaps
kindnesses upon him ”) “ causes me to reveal it to you now . . .
but I should feel very grieved if you thought of anything like
a gift, as that would be to misjudge my good intention, and I
cannot but decline anything of that kind.55 It is clear, then,
that Beethoven had the dedication of this sonata greatly at
heart; he had, long been looking forward to it, and he was
very anxious that the Count should not think he was following
the usual custom and bestowing his gift in order to receive
,4H BKKTIIOVKN’K sonatas

something in return. In malting this dedication Beethoven

wished to honour his friend, not his art patron, Imt there in
no reason to conclude from thin that In* would l»r no coarse
and tactless as to depict the Count1!; private affair:; in tin*
sonata. The sardonic laughter of (hr Master when lie gave
his supposed explanation speaks for itself, as well as his
humorous interpretation of the second movement, that quiet,
tender soliloquy, as a “conversation” even using a I'Yriu h
word !■ ■-with the beloved. In the letter quoted above Beet
hoven thanks Moritz Lirhnowsky for his efforts on behalf of
the composer with the Ktiglish Ambassador at the Congress
of Vienna, Lord Castlereagh. .Probably they were concerned
with the production of “ Wellington’s Victory ” in ICiigland.
Here, then, lies the quite obvious motive lor the dedication :
the composer’s feeling of gratitude.
 CHAPTER XV

Afi'Hr tin1; Sonata Opus 90 Beethoven again allowed a couple

of years to elapse before he sent out any new sonata for piano.
This was Opus 101 in A major, completed in 1816 and published
in 18x7. Then followed more continuously :

Opus rod, in B flat major, begun in 1817, finished in the

beginning of 1819;
Opus J09, in E major, begun (at the earliest) in 1819, finished
in 1821;
Opus 110, in A flat major, completed in December 1821,
published in 1822;
Opus 111, in C minor, completed in January 1822, published
in the spring of 1823.

The ideas for the two last sonatas were conceived at about
the same lime, and these were completed more rapidly than
was usually the case with Beethoven’s productions during these
last: years of his life. Contemporary with the above-mentioned
sonatas was the work on the great “ Mass,” which occupied
the composer from 1818 till 1822; but apart from this no
great works except the sonatas were completed during this
period.
These five “ last sonatas ” were found to be bizarre, grotesque,
inaccessible, and even meaningless productions, not only by
Beethoven’s contemporaries, but by those who came long after
his death. In that respect they shared the fate of the last
quartets, even though they were perhaps never actually, like
the latter, called “ mad.”
149
150 BEKTIIOVKN’S SONATAS
Earlier writers of monographs on the «onau« have therefore
exercised a certain carefulness in dealing with the u Iasi n
ones. In their special studies A. II Mari and Remet ke are
both surprisingly brief in flieir mention of the**: great woika bn*
piano. One does not: wonder, though, that (low writers ret oiled
from the well-nigh insurmountable task of < ouveying in words
an impression of (he subject ami character of these strange and
sublime works. The fact may have been that Beethoven had
advanced so far beyond his time in them that more than a
generation was needed before the mush al wodd was iti a pndthm
to understand them at alb Still more it may have been that
executant musicians for some time gave these sonatas a wide
berth, or, so far as one can see, if they did attempt to have
anything to do with them, it wan beraune it gave them tn ran ton
to display a superabundance of technical and physual ability,
rather than because they wished to attempt any Interpretation
of them, which was also probably beyond their powers. On
the other hand, the difficult ics of the sonatas as a rule c hided
them from the repertory of amateurs and o! mush in the home.
The first to perform in public the greatest of them all,
the B flat major sonata, In said to have firmi Mot t ter tie Fontaine,
a Russian by birth, and Clara Schumann, but I Ians von Billow
has perhaps been most active in making these sonatas known,
to a greater public, because of his intelligent interpretation,
united to a fanatical enthusiasm, which he has also shown
in the work of editing them. At the present flay, as we know,
they belong to the repertory of all pianists of any c ou/mquenee,
and they have put their predecessors in the shade to an extent
that is almost regrettable. Moreover, the musical world is
now no longer intent on their technical diffh nil irs, but on their
musical beauty and their artistic and psychological peculiarities,
while later authors have devoted a detailed study to them,
and endeavoured to elucidate their subject and uncover their
depths—so far as this is humanly possible.
 TilK LAST SONATAS 151

The fire sonatas are the chief outcome of the work of six
yearn, ami of these the period from 1819-21 was in a certain
degree a pause. This is a perceptible decline in the productive
power of the Master—hardly one piano sonata a year! And
then Beethoven, was never a rapid writer. But the conditions
of his life were really growing sadder and sadder, more and
more depressing and hampering, so that, as indicated before,
his desire and ability to create necessarily suffered.
During these years Beethoven entered into the realm of
total deafness. In spite of all kinds of “ contrivances,” no one
could any longer make himself heard by him; communication
with him could only be achieved by writing, by means of the
“ conversation-books,” most of which have been preserved.
And then his music ! We are told that once when Beethoven
had given a very fine rendering of the sonata Opus 101 to a
circle of friends, he declared afterwards that he had not heard
one note of his own playing. This was in 1822, the same year
in which Beethoven had to be removed with considerate care
from the post of conductor at a rehearsal of a Fidelio,” “ a
stroke of fate from which he really never quite recovered.”
He was again, then—and now not only of his own free
will -shut out entirely and irrevocably from communion with
his fellow-men. He became more than ever a solitary, and
felt it: with pain—u what it is to be deprived of attention, of
everything, of friends, and to be left to oneself; one must have
felt it to realise what it means,” he writes. He had also the
bitter experience of being forgotten in his loneliness by those
who before had applauded him. At the very time when these
sonatas were being composed, the Allgemeine Musikzeitung
states with forbearing indifference that “ Beethoven is engaged
in writing out Scotch songs, like Father Haydn at one time,
he seems to have grown too blunted for greater works. The
small circle that still looked up to him and which he met daily
did not, spiritually, reach to his shoulders. Letters and the
 15a BKKTfIOVKN’8 SONATAS
conversation'■books show how arid and <ominonplaee w:in the
atmosphere in wliitli Beethoven lived willi these (losest friends.
His personal affairs, his health, his works consulted from die
commercial point of view, these are die subjects of con versa .
tion; scarcely anyone cares to bear anythin;; about his ideas,
or shows any appreciation of his aims or of the subject and
meaning of his works, and he therefore “ hardly ever goes out,
as it has always been impossible for him to associate with
people when there wan not a certain exchange of ideas.”
But; to die intimate circle, and still more perhaps when a
stranger paid him a visit as one of the “ sights ” of Vienna ! .
he could “sputter out gall and wormwood.” , , , “ f Je },a(i a
spite against everything, in dissatisfied and swears at Austria
especially and still more at Vienna.” Tliin great solitary in
the creator of the last' sonatas. Physically shattered in health,
indifferent to the claims or needs of the crowd, wit h an indoubt *
able imagination, soaring at times to regions beyond human
limitatiomi, he reminds one of Rembrandt during bis last
days. One feels tempted sometimes to compute (be Beet
hoven of thene last sonatas with Rembrandt's last portraits
of himself, in which there is a strange and awful grandeur,
a new and impressive beauty. Violent, explosive in bin artistic
form of expression, lie hurls forth lbs ideas in inspired skeii lies
rather than in complete elaboration and, as it seems to ns,
without any thought of what mankind will understand ol his
productions or what it will think of them.
It was not only deafness that hampered Beethoven be< auae
it excluded him from human intercourse. Continual illnesses
also had a share in this. The unhappy artist, who doubt less
also suffered greatly from his nerves, and felt the need of keep¬
ing hold of the few who were sympathetic and helpful, perhaps
exaggerated his physical misery at times; hut it is unlikely
that Beethoven ever felt entirely well again and independent of
physical conditions.
 THE LAST SONATAS *53
He was really ill again and again; jaundice, “a disease
that is so repulsive to me,” rheumatism, diseased eyes and
gastritis harassed him frequently and often long, even before
the fatal cirrhosis of the liver broke out, followed by the dis¬
tressing and ominous dropsy. A great deal of the desire to
work and of time would necessarily be lost, and even though he
might have the inclination, his physical state made it impossible.
Beethoven himself felt it deeply. Well-known are the words
he uttered (during these years) : “ I sit and think and think;
I have had it in my head a long time, but cannot get it on to the
paper.” Every creative artist is probably acquainted with
hindrances of this kind, but rarely has anyone “ had in his
head ” ideas so new and so difficult to convey as Beethoven at
this period. This lingering meditation which these words
reveal can be traced in more than one passage in the sonatas in
a very impressive way.
It is touching now to see how Beethoven, tormented as he
wan by illness and made suspicious by deafness, still preserved
a certain ethical anxiety lest his trials should drag him down
to a lower moral level. In Shakespeare’s Othello he under¬
lined Desdemona’s simple and beautiful words: “ Heaven me
such uses send, not to pick bad from bad, but by bad mend.”
From such noble and exalted feelings have his last works received
their stamp.
The “ bad ” surrounded him in several forms which can be
only briefly mentioned here.
First and chief among them were the relations with his
nephew, the son of his brother Carl. After this brother’s
death, which in itself had a very depressing effect on Beethoven’s
mind and on his production (see letter of February 28, 1816),
he had to engage in harassing lawsuits with his nephew’s
mother, the “ Queen of the Night,” as Beethoven called her,
and later on, when his guardianship of his nephew was
acknowledged, the latter caused him many anxieties. The
,s+ BKKTHOVKN’S sonatas

biographies of Beethoven contain amwm.i of these endless

Wal con tent iottn, which robbed thr Manter of l.ii time and
tlwufiUts. One sect) in these ammtil-i how he fell hit gu.udi.m
ship to be a mission, a sacred duty: “ Von must look upon
Carl as your own child, and pay no afimuimt to nill-i, as
compared with tins sacred ol.jei t finally one may read of
the deep disappointments and sorrows that lids <barge was to
bring him. .,, .
Next, there wan bin fear and »tniggle fur the means of living :
his quarrels and contentions with publishers, and his trans¬
actions which, with greater or lesser reason, have been placed
in a light unfavourable to him. No doubt bis me,pi,-ion and
his ailing health, had some share in this, yet, although a sober-
minded'biographer may supply every proof that Beethoven's
anxiety was unfounded, his complaining unjustified, as be was
neither then suffering want nor bad any immediate prospect
of destitution, he could not himself reason <almiy about it.
Deprived of the most: important of his senses, weakened
physically and consequently also to a certain extent rest rimed
in his ability to work, the fu!me would seem very precarious
to him; and now as a “ father” he was winking not only for
himself. Here, and not here alone, one feels tempted to speak
in defence of Beethoven against his biographers.
Finally, the last worry and disappointment : the shipwreck
of his hopes in regard to the arrangement, of his home and house¬
hold. It was just for the sake of the nephew Cat I that he wished
to exchange his restless Bohemian way of living for a settled
and orderly home. But what, a failure it all is for t he unpract i~
cal, suspicious and close-handed artist! For mouths, in fact
for years, one can read in his letters, especially in those to his
faithful and lovable friend, Nanette Stretcher, wife of the piano
manufacturer, about trifling matters concerning his rooms,
housekeeping, prices of food and drink, washing and linen, the
loan of a teaspoon, repair of shoes™and first and last about
Douotuka von KiriMAMM
 THU LAST SONATAS *55
servants! On thin particular class of human beings Beethoven
had concentrated Ids hatred- Even though he may not have
hud any reason to love his servants, housekeepers or housemaids,
It in iru:omprrhen:dbIe that he would allow such domestic affairs
to take up so much, of his time and thought. Is it not con¬
ceivable that Beethoven's servants, directly or indirectly, with
or without; reason, have deprived the world of more than one
poem in music ?
In any case, however piteous is this back-stairs view of
genius: these conditions and the state of mind which they
created cannot be ignored, as they hampered his productive
power and explain his need to find relief in art and an entrance
to another, better and purer world than that in which he was
doomed to live, whether this was due to his own fault or not.
His works often contain evidence that his spirit was groping
for such a rarefied, incorporeal dream-world which his imagina¬
tion built up and endowed with a strange impalpable beauty.
His mind turns with longing and bitterness to the thought
of death : he writes to Zmeskall (vide p. 36) (in August
r 8 r 7) that he H considers himself doomed " (*.<?. incurable),
and in the true Beethoven manner he adds: “ Thank God, I
shall soon have reached the end of my part in the play! "
Another letter contains the words: “I am getting on better,
though during last night I often thought of my death; still,
such thoughts visit me in the daytime too." Even when he
is speaking of Ms household, the words “ upon which I have
no hold, and which is most like an allegro di confusions” a
grotesquely humorous exclamation reveals the world that
occupied his mind ; u The new cook looked sulky when she
had to carry up firewood; I hope she will remember that Our
Redeemer had to drag His cross up to Calvary ! "
In his loneliness, Ms broken health, his fear and Ms help¬
lessness he often turns now in an odd, bizarre way to the
a Providence " forming the core of Ms religious faith. “ May
iS6 BKKTHOVBN’S SONATAS

God help Me; I appeal to Him an the highest instance,”

(The continual lawsuits during these years must suody have
inspired this turn of expression I) u Vour sure n (Ileethoveidn
own) u is hard enough yel there is One above, Hr exists, and
without Him nothing exists.” a (iod, ( Jod, my protrc tor, my
rock! Oh, Thou my all; Thou tierst my hmut oh, hear,
Thou ever unutterable, hear me, Thy unhappy one, unhapphst
among mortal men.” These few examples will sulfnr to give
an impression of where the Master sought refuge from everyday
petty worries and trials. At this time hr was at. work on his
great Mass, and we have it from Schindler that hr was in a
state of entire abstraction from the material world (M Knhment
riickheit ”). These moods, these notes from another world,
would be echoed in other works, and so we find more than om r
in the sonatas that strange and visionary, indeed that 11 trattti«
figured” expression, in which his genius, stirred by religious
emotion, finds an outlet; for its feelings and its un<ominous,
deeply philosophical contemplation. It, is like inerting (hr
Master in those holy places in which one involuntarily puts off
one’s shoes! Movements like the F sharp minor /tduyw in
Opus lofi, the variations in Opus tot), and in particular those
in Opus in have with good reason hern (ailed u revelations
from another and a higher world.” It was in iH/,o that Bert
hoven wrote in his sketch-hook the famous lines about his deep
admiration of the “ starry heavens above our head and the
moral law within our breast,” in order to fix in his memory a
very similar passage in Kant’s Kritik drr l/rthrihkru/t* Beet¬
hoven must have written movements in Ids sonatas like those
mentioned above, with feelings akin to those* roused in him by
the splendour of the trembling and scintillating lights of the
heavens on a night of early autumn.
In music so spiritual there was no rot mi for the broad arid
often drastic Rhineland humour, so often met with in the
earlier sonatas. As it grew rarer in his daily life, no it gradually
* Tranilatcd wader the title, Kritik of Judgment* ^7
 THE LAST SONATAS iS7
disappeared also from his art. If we do encounter instances
of humour now and then in the last sonatas, it is of a more
delicate and playful kind, and on a lofty and ineffably higher
plane, such as one also finds in Shakespeare towards the close
of his life’s work. The boisterous laugh, the biting mockery
is gone, and the very name of scherzo occurs only once in the
five sonatas.
The change, not only in the spirit of the music, but also
in the style and language of these last works, was one of which
Beethoven was fully conscious. There are several proofs of
this from his lips or his pen, among the latter being this deeply
resigned entry in his diary in 1816: “ Opern und alles sein
lassen—nur fur deine Weise schreihen—und dann die Kutte,
womit du dies ungliickliche Leben beschliessest.” *
The changes in style in the last sonatas are, of course, chiefly
the same that we meet with in Beethoven’s other works of the
last period in the field of absolute music. It is outside the
scope of this book to dwell further upon them, beyond what
Is entailed by the mention of an individual sonata.
Meanwhile, as a more personal element, the question has
been touched upon as to whether Beethoven’s total deafness
ntay be considered to have affected his last mode of expression
at the piano, and it is therefore particularly concerned with
the piano sonatas. In earlier times especially this question
was much discussed. Nowadays this feature is generally con¬
sidered to be of minor importance, and no doubt this view is
the right one. Certain peculiarities of style, such as that of
placing the melody and the bass as far from each other as
possible, without any part to fill up and bridge over the
intervening space, might possibly with some reason be
ascribed to the lost sense of hearing, on the supposition
that Beethoven had forgotten the tone-effect of this pattern
of notes, or had imagined other effects than the piano was
♦ Leave operas and all that alone—write only in your own way—and then lor the
monk’s habit in which you will leave this unhappy life.—Tr.
 rS« BKKTf I OVEN’S SONATAS

nblc to produce. Ollier writ cm have maintained, however,

that the extended ponilioii.'i and the empty puli’, as it were,
between the voices, is a deliberate expression of somethin/;
exalted, floating above the earth and having no root in the
world of matter, and this view cannot altogether be rejected.
In these sonatas we encounter bolder harmonic and modulatory
effects than in the earlier ones, and these singular ventures
can hardly be ascribed to deafness. To choose a small example,
taken at hazard, the Scherzo of Opus rob eon tains die following,
as the solution of the leading motif:

but, when the same movement is repeated after the H flat

minor passage--and sounds essentially different (although the
melodic part is unchanged) :

one may wonder at the oddity, the brusqueness or the obstinacy

in the change, but hardly anyone with a little knowledge of the
Beethoven of the third period will think the alteration is due
to his lost sense of hearing.
 CHAPTER XVI

Tnu sonata Opus xoi in A major was composed at about the

fiarm; time as the violoncello sonata Opus 102, which Beethoven
defined as a “ freye senate ” in his sketch-book. The same
definition might be applied to the A major sonata. It is
“ free ” in a manner resembling that of the two quasi-fantasia
sonatas Opus 27, as not only its subject but its exterior form
wan decided by the composer’s imagination much more than
by tradition. It is true that the sonata has been called a work
of transition, in so far as the traditional three parts are still
present: in their usual order, but regarded as a whole the sonata
lx-longs to Beethoven’s last piano style. Such as the first
movement, in which the composer quite gives himself up to
bin emotional mood, and sings a beautiful, gently mournful
.■long, which, despite the Allegretto heading, affects the mind
mostly like an undulating Andante, and in which the decisive
factor in the singing speech of all the voices, stirring the feelings
of the listener, as in the first movement of Opus 27, No. 2, while
1 he traditional modulatory section does not perceptibly appear.
Beethoven himself did, in fact, call the movement: “ trau-
rrierische Empfindungen,” * and with delicate perception Nohl
points out that an entry in the Master’s diary at this time
runs as follows (it may be a quotation): “ When a swelling
tear is lurking under the heavy eyelids, restrain it with a firm
will from gushing forth.” This stream of tears, on the point
of breaking out, and checked by force, is the feature of a mood
which was soon after to be a favourite one with the romantic
# Visionary moods.—Tr.
*59
 t6o heethovkn’s sonatas

oclinul. ft in not accidental, then, llnit Memb'lssnlm’s nu-Indieti

anti Seliunianu’ii fonn of expression air I'orrloM in this niiivr .
mem 'in tin* hovering syncopes so full of forebodings; in tj„.
flout: which seems to fade away into ethereal rf^jonn; though (lie
Mailin' hail a greater control of t hr* nnolional inootl than any of
his successorii. The theme of the niiiltllr movnnnit which
smns to he a brisk reiiolution after the loo nnolional one
preceding it -in related to another of the rotnaniii i;, bYanz
Schubert, who has caught it up in his (1 major ipiarieite.
It seems to be almost a jest that (hi;; movement is not called
Scherzo but Alla Marcia ; this delicate and oddly moved piece
is in any case not a march in the ordinary sense of the word.
The tone “march ” can only indicate a eertairi preeision ami
accentuation in the performance of the piece, li is utt impres¬
sionistic piece of music, such as we often meet will) in the hint
sonatas, ft might suggest the phantasmal writings of Shake-
speare’s latest; period, and Beethoven's strange exclamation
(in a letter t.o J(redcrick Brunswick) is very appropriate to it *
“ % kingdom is in the air; the notes whirl as the winds stir
them- so is the soul often in a whirl loo.” It wi|| |„. noticed
how the melody is thrown here in fragments, as it Were, from
part to part; it is the so-called “ broken form ” which ’is also
characteristic of the style of the last quartets, and the
doggedly carried out trio-canon with its false relalious points
in the same direction.
The Adagio introducing the last pari is again an utterance
of the feeling which, Beethoven was pro eminent in inter"
preting : that of longing. IIi„ heading above it, “ selmsiK l.lii-
v°U,” is almost superfluous. There is no formal ending to the
short but glorious section ; it flows out; in a glim-ring coloratura
which docs not lead on to the Finale an one, might have expected,
but to a repetition of the leading subject of the first movement!
It is a typical example of employing the reminiscent theme to
link together the individual parts of the sonata, in a way
 A MAJOR, OPUS tor j6r

peculiar to Beethoven’!! style during these last years, and found

again in oilier aonaias and instrumental works. The composer
now iearn liimiielf away from the gentle dwelling on memories,
and reaoluleJy at lacks (“ mit Kntsehlossenheit ”) the forceful,
luiglit and hold final section, which is again characteristic
in the fugaled mode of writing frequently appearing in the last
works, though in lliis instance it is combined with more lyrical
part,'). A scrap of melody, the folk-song character of which
might remind one of the refrain in “ The Dance on Riber
Bridge ” # turns up, but only in a casual form, without really
being ut ilised. hi this accidental, or did Beethoven come across
this tune in his study of folk-songs and repeat a few bars of it
in his sonata, consciously or unconsciously? Riemann con¬
cludes liis searching analysis of this sonata movement by declar¬
ing that in this instance the fugue part is a form of thematic
work, executed in the service of fugal art. Anyhow, the
movement, is not: a learned work, weighted by great scientific
skill; on the. contrary, it is a free and spontaneous piece of
music, radiant with a bold, almost overweening sense of
victory, and rising in interior and exterior power to close
with a whimsical and graceful Coda.
The sonata was published in (February?) 1817; it had
previously been performed by an amateur pianist, Stainer von
Keltiburg, Court secretary, at the concert of the violoncello
player Linke on February 18, 1816, and Kalischer takes occasion
to make the astonishing remark that it was the only one of
Beethoven's sonatas to be performed in puttie during his
lifetime. I
The sonata was announced as the first delivery of an “Anthology
* An old Danish folk-song. (Riber is pronounced Reeber.)—Tr.
f Thayer (Riemann) thinks that on the above-mentioned occasion it cannot have
been the A major sonata discussed here, but the Opus 90, as that was then obtainable
in print. This objection does not necessarily hold good, as the sonata (according to
tradition) might have been played from the manuscript Meanwhile Thayer himself
is not: clear with regard to this performance, as he speaks in one place about a first
performance at Schuppanzigh’s, in another at Linked concert.
M
 16z MKTHOVKN’S SONATAS
of 1*1,-iiio Mimic ” darted by (lie great firm <>( Stainer .ft
In the original edition ilic sonata in furnished aln-ady <m i|u.
title-page with a d<!!irri|Hiuii in Kirmh .uni <iViiuau : on tin-
left “ pour 1«pianoforte,”on tin-right “ liinl.ri Ilummmklavici”
(CJpim 106 in therefore not, an in no oiieu ;.r;it|T die ho.i or
only iionata dciicrihed by Beethoven himself aa for ilu- “ | lain-
merklavier ”). In a humorous letter, wouled like a r.olenm
decree, Beethoven jirononncea liin resolve lo iulrodin e die
German designation of the, piano. “ Wir hahen mult i-igeuer
Bruiting unci tuteh Anhoritng misers C'oiiseils lies. hlonaen und
bcschlicssen, dans hinfiiro auf alien nimeren Wedum, wo/,n
der Titcl Deut.oeh, nlatt Pianoforte llawmaralaviar genet/,t
werde, wo naeli. nidi alle die a hetrill't ao glen h /iiri. hlen und
ins Work zubringen hahen Stall Pianojurtr Ham man lavin' -
womit: c« sein Ahkoimnen einnial liir allemal hierniit hat.
Gegeben, etc., etc., am 23. (aimer tHr/.” *
In the sonata there are also bilingual direction- lor taut pi
and expression, but: here they are in Gentian and Italian.
On thin point Beethoven evidently waver;;. It wan the deni re
of hiti heart to get away Jrom (he Indian lemiri; he ventured
on it in Opus <jo j in Opus lot he shrinks Iroui the consistent
point ol view, an he in afraid that the German mien lined alone
will have an unfortunate ell'ert, either on the peilonnerii’
understanding, bound an they are by l radii inti, or on tin1
purchasers inception ol the work. In Opus 106 he returns
to German for the headings, but again tinea die familiar Italian
for the indications of temp- and thin is about the end of the
struggle against the latter. It will lie noticed how the (Jerman
headings m Opus roi not only supplement but enlarge the
Italian ones, as if they were intended to speak more distinctly
* After <lue CHnuilcration anil after hearing the advice of our Comrnel wr have
decided that from henedonh mi all nur wink. ihr German term ll.umm-ikl.mrr
«hal be used instead of Pianoforte, and thin u t„ hr ado,,ted and .word into eirect
by all win. arc therewith concerned-mHead of Piamdorte, IfammerkJavicr-tlii.
pronouncement being hereby made mice for *11. Given, etc., etc., a3rd January,
 A MAJOR, OPUS ioi 163
uml earnestly to the Master’s compatriots. Thus the first
movement has the addition : mit der innigsUn Emffindung, to
whitdi therv is no corresponding direction in the Italian head-
ing j in the succeeding movements the directions are about
synonymous, hut in the Finale—as alluded to earlier—only
the (lernum language is used in a decisive place, in which we
find the words ; fi Gcschwind, doch nicht zu sehr und mit
Kntsehlossenheit.”
It is not unreasonable to suppose that these efforts of Beet¬
hoven to introduce a German music language may have
influenced Robert Schumann, who employed German in his
early works to an extent not previously known and with several
hold turns of expression.
One dwells on the dedication of this sonata with peculiar
interest. The Master bestowed this work upon Dorothea von
Krtinann. She was one of Beethoven’s most gifted and
enthusiastic pupils, and assuredly one of those who understood
his music most, intimately and had acquired his way of per¬
forming it. She had a great reputation as an amateur pianist.
Reiehardl writes of her in Vertrauie Briefe: * “ I have never
seen, even in the greatest virtuosi, such power allied to the
tenderest delicacy; there is a singing soul in each finger-tip,”
Baroness von Krtinarm was nie Graumann and belonged to a
patrician family of Frankfort, After her marriage with the
Baron, who was an officer in the army, she came to Vienna
and there quite accidentally made Beethoven’s acquaintance
one day at 11 as] i tiger’s, the music-dealer’s, where she was just
then asking for some of the piano music by the new Bonn
virtuoso. She took it to a piano standing in the shop and began
to play some of it. To her surprise a young man came forward
from a corner, and seizing her hand thanked her warmly and
with emotion. This was Beethoven. How highly he con¬
tinued to value her and her musical gifts is shown by his after-
* Confidential Letters.—Tr.
 164 BKKTUOVKN’K SONATAS

warelr, al waya < alIin/^ her Ins I )orot lira C//v tl/#/, a 11 * I by <i( l t
asking her to perform It hi sonatas. At t mding to t ho < ustom
of the time she could not, an an oflh rr's wife, play them in
public* ! Of her worth an an interpreter of Bert hovrn's music
for piano Schindler says: u Slit* alone wan a < nnservatuire;
except for Frau von Krtmaim, Beetbnven's mush for piano
would have disappeared still earlier from the Vienna
repertory/*
Ah no often happened to Beethoven's friendships, hF relations
with this beautiful and gifted woman seem it) have* had their
ebb and flow; it is hardly possible to interpret otherwise tint
letter sent by the Master with tint A major sonata :

u My dear, treasured Dorothea Cecilia, You have often

been compelled to misjudge* me, bemuse f seemed to be what
you disliked; a great deal was due to cireumstam es, mpe< tally
at an earlier time when my manners were less understood t ban
now. . . . Please accept that which has often been intended
for you an a token of my appreciation of your artistic talent and
my affection for yourself personally,'1

It appears from a letter to the publisher, however, that

Beethoven only decided on the dedication when the sonata
had been put: into the press. Meanwhile, if it arrived too late
it seems that it was his intention to cornua t Doioihra Fit matin's
name with a subsequent sonata for piano.
For some time Beethoven was a daily guest in the home of
his artistic friend, She has related of him dial he was very
irritable, hot-tempered and sensitive, and therefore often
unjust and suspicious even of his best, friends, but this she
attributes to his physical and moral sufferings, and for the sake
of these everything was forgiven him. With a sense of humour
her husband remembers Beethoven’s habit of using the candle-
snuffers as a toothpick ! But Frau Krtmann has also preserved
 A MAJOR, OPUS ioi i6S

the touching account of how Beethoven, when she had lost a

dearly' loved child, to her surprise stayed away from her house
a long l ime and did not show his sympathy in other ways,
uni 11 he came back one day, weeks after. u He bowed to me
in dlmee, and sitting down to the piano he improvised on it
lor a long time. Who would be able to describe this music?
Ii was like hearing angelic choirs singing the welcome of my
poor child into the world of light. When he had finished
playing, he pressed my hand in sympathy and left me, silently
as lie had come. He had told me everything and in the end
he brought me comfort,” Frau Ertmann concludes, in the
account that she gave Felix Mendelssohn of this incident. For
as a young man Mendelssohn visited Frau Dorothea at Milan,
where the General was then garrisoned. In one of his vivacious
letters home he told his family about this visit: “ ... on
every hand I had heard accounts of how good and beautiful
thin lady was; how kind, how she had petted Beethoven, and
how beautifully she played—and the next day at two o’clock
i made the acquaintance of 11 Freifrau Dorothea von Ertmann.’
She at once played Beethoven’s C sharp minor sonata to me,
and afterwards that in D minor. She plays Beethoven’s things
beautifully, although she has not practised them for a long time.
She often, exaggerates the expression a little, retards too much
or hurries on, again ” (this gives one the impression that perhaps
Frau K. slightly exaggerated Beethoven’s own manner of
playing, which she would have heard), “ yet, on the other hand,
she played some pieces most wonderfully, and I think I have
Icarnl; something from her. Sometimes, when she cannot
get more expression out of the notes, she begins to sing, in a
voice that seems to come from the depths of her heart.”
(Here again there seems to be a suggestion of an involuntary
imitation of Beethoven’s manner at the piano.) a Towards
the end of the Adagio in the B flat major trio (which the young
musician had to play to the ageing couple) she cried : 4 That
 166 BKKTHOVKN’R SONATAS

place cannot be played at all foi aluvr csprr'nintt ! * and tItii h

really true of the place in quest iond*

Ah in tin: c:tno of ()jurn 81 the dedication is art aid in r*plaining

and understanding the next sonata unit, tin* /peat B flat
major sonata, Opus in6, luV tin* ** RebcwohP* sonata it
k dedicated to the Archduke Rudolph,
The sonata in one of the moot famous and tmot denounced
of them, all; it is, no to speak/1 the preat beam 11 umon** tlie
last sonatas. In its exterior form it h the largost in the series,
a colossus in compass and subject ; it has, in fact, Been < ailed a.
“ symphony for piano.” * It belongs to the (om nt sonatas
not only because of its ample four ’movement stat ui but also
because of (lie splendour and power demanded for its pm-*
formation. It is altn^H her on < mu er t stale, riot wit IcUandin^
the intimate and profound character of the AtUt^hi and the
difficulty of approach of the final momumii.
Wonderful are the contrasts contained in tills wmk ! The
dedication explains (he brilliance and Bvitive sphmdonr of the
first part, I he sketch book ton!ains a note on it adjoining
a melody fc^r a “ Vivat Rudolphus,n vvhl h fteeins to be very
like the leading theme of (he ////c/yvn This looks as fhotiyh
Beethoven, who, an related earlier, Hi ill owed the Ardnlultr a
“ Mass,” liad wished to naliufy Iditt and Ida own tutr,< ieme ! >
by working with might; and main a I coniplei mg another vvoik
in honour of the Archduke’ll ltirlhday on April 17. Thia
sonata, therefore, begins with ait emphatic and lentive lionriali;
the opening theme tioundti like a majenth; and rouning F hull,
which establishes the main diameter ol the nonata, and, later,
the same subject, is the foundation of the Fuj'iilti. But Beet ¬
hoven soon abandons the personal [mint of issue, still more 1 ban
in the Lcbewohl ” sonata, and becomes absorbed in bis own

* Thi» agreci will* the remark of I Ians vim Blilmv, that (lie mmita m.niren a
concert grand piano, one that can, »o to »prak, replace an otdienra.
 A MAJOR, OPUS ioi 167

deep contemplalionn—in the wondrous beauty of the second

subject, hovering between major and minor; he already seems
to have left I Ik- Archduke and his birthday far behind, and soon,
a« no often before, he yields to his predilection for the fugated
style, which he develops to the utmost of his powers. The
movement becomes more and more stamped by the hand of
the Titan of music ; it: swells to thundering power in dissonant
chord:!, unheard of at that time, and its tremendous rhythmic
strength, its rich variety are displayed without restraint and in
all their grandeur.
At. the. end of the movement, as in the first part of the
“ Ihebewohl ” sonata, a certain yielding and resignation are
perhaps perceptible, as though the Master, after this violent
display of the will to live, asks himself whether life is worth
the struggle, until by main force he writes that#close which
recall:; 1 lie fest i ve origin of the sonata. In view of the amplitude
and splendour of this work, demanding of a piano all that this
instrument, could give, the full and mighty chords, the whole
bravura of the concert style, there is reason to remember that
just when Beethoven was engaged on this JUegro, he received
as a gift (rum the firm of Broadwood in London a magnificent,
full-compass and fine-toned grand piano. Although the poor
Master wan totally deaf, one may surely be allowed here to
speak of the interaction between inspiration and the exterior
means of effect indicated in the mention of Opus 57.
Tim Scherzo of the sonata—the only one in the five “ last
is full of wit and grace, but also contains the rugged merriment
now rare in Beethoven, and a few teasing riddles. It is a
movement: in which, to use the Master’s own words, there are
“ whirlings like the wind,” while the fantastic B flat minor
belongs to those sections in the sonatas that foretell a later,
impressionistic art in piano music. The composer seems to
want to shake off the nocturnal hauntings of this section m the
singular Tremolo (Temp Im0) in order to return to the first
 A MAJOR, OPUS ioi 169

beauty, an inexhaustibly varied, sustained, singing quality that

was to be the model of much later music for piano, and demand¬
ing above all a humble-minded and tenderly sympathetic
absorption in the rare subject and essence of this music.
Reineeke says of this movement that even those who cannot
play the rest of the sonata should not omit to play this part.
{Jans von Bulow for his part advises those who cannot fully
master this piece to leave it alone, because, as he says, all
mere •playing stops here, and he who cannot a speak ” on
the piano had better be content with readingthe
music* Two different opinions and personalities are here
strangely at variance!—Beethoven himself has shown how
much importance he attaches to expression in performing it
by adding an Appassionato e con molto sentimento to the tempo
directions*
In this movement Beethoven’s spirit seems to flee to a
world whither only the elect can follow it. H. Riemann, who
is not exactly lyrical, speaks here of u the holy of holies of the
temple of art.” One involuntarily ’'connects a movement like
this with something religious, such as that which has been
pointed out earlier, Beethoven’s mind being stirred by religious
feeling during those years. But it is quite as certain that there
is something human in this music, human in the highest, purest
sense* A deep, gnawing pain finds utterance in the first chief
melody, introduced by those two notes, the tonic third and
fifth, which now seem to be so indispensable as the gate to the
Adagio, but which—according to the correspondence with
F. Ries in London—were not added at Beethoven’s request
until at so late a stage that the sonata had already been put
into the press. There is a trembling, human hope of light
and happiness in the counter-melody in G major following
soon after, and introduced by that simple and wondrously
beautiful modulation, of which, as Riemann has pointed out,
there is a sort of forerunner in the sonata Opus 101.
IJQ BiumrovKNvs .sonatas
Op. 101,

After this the movement consists of a oo? t of variations

with rirh, unduiatin/; figurations that raise ihr mush; up to
higher regions of tone, in a del irate and I ramspafenf at mospbrre,
and seem to {soften, though they rannot dispel, the sad new of
the leading subject. A <piite different <one position Is needed
before the full trust, eoniidenee and peaee of soul aspired to are
reached. A new theme, of infinite simplicity and quiet:
nobility, is relegated to the deepest bass of the piano this
is perhaps the first time that the beautiful piano depth
effect of the instrument is employed and forms the basis of
gentle, calm and not loss simple movements In tin* treble.
One feels that the Master has found, at, any rate incidentally,
the harmony and rest that be had been seeking. Is it possible
to define a place like this by any other term than that of holy ?
Assuredly it has more than the tonality in common with a
corresponding place in the Adapio of the ninth symphony
 A MAJOR, OPUS ioi 171

(second subject)* Yet we seem here to have met with a

“ still more ascetically exalted ” (as Billow calls it) musical
expression than in the symphony.—Another comparison shows
m two decisive stages on the long road of the piano sonatas,
and so far they are connected with the goal aimed at in this
description* It is that between this Adagio and that great
Largo in D minor (Opus 10, No. 3), in which we contemplated
the entirely spontaneous expression of the despair and suffering
of the Master who was then still young, and these feelings were
communicated in almost physically audible cries of pain. The
Adagio in Opus 106 is the transfigured expression of the anguish
and gentle renunciation of the Master’s later years.
This mood of deliverance through resignation dominates
the close of the sonata with the extended, seraphic tones of the
F sharp major chords; and Billow observes with deep spiritual
penetration that the leading subject, where it appears shortly
before for the last time, in its original (minor) form although
with fuller and more beautiful harmonies, should no longer
express heartrending anguish, but a tearless surrender to fate.
In the sketch-book the following words are written beside
the rough draft of this sonata : “ auch konnte am Ende Rondo
und Moderate und als Episode Fuge in B-Moli.” The
relations in this instance, then, are about the opposite of those
in the quartet Opus 130. Owing to exterior influence,
Beethoven in that case gave up the fugue movement, which
afterwards appeared independently as “ Grosse Fuge,55 while
the quartet was given a more accommodating Finale. On
his own initiative Beethoven here prefers the great fugue
to the “ Rondo 55 Finale, most likely more manageable, which
he had also contemplated. Yet in spite of great admiration
of the enormous labour, the imposing ability and strength of
will in this Fugue~Finale, posterity has been somewhat reluctant
to thank him for it. A musician like Reinecke writes that
“ he will not quarrel with anyone who is unable to find that
 ijt HKKTHC)VKN\S SONATAS

this Finals h beautiful,” and, in mention a quite modern

composer, whose favourite style is this very t nitirapnutal one,
Max Reger hun incidentally called this sonata movmmmt a
monster! There in no doubt that it is the madt of immense
brain work rat her than of spontaneous inspiration. It in
significant in this connection that, before coming to the work¬
ing-out; of the Fmtilt% the sketch hooks contain studios of all
kinds of ingenuities in the art of counterpoint and fugue,
Before undertaking such a task even a Boothovon had to prac tise
mind and hand in forms which, it c an hardly he disputed, wore
not very closely hound up with his emotional life or his mode
of expression. When Beethoven frequently returns to the
fugue during this period, it seems to havo been due* rather
to an act of will than to a desire of the heart. Ho has said
himself, and of course with every right to do so, that “ a
fugue is an easy matter.” But. he could scarcely he unaware
that; it was a standing maxim amongst the* music al u gram -
mariann and their crowd ” in Vienna that Boothovori could not
write a fugue. One may therefore be permitted to think that,
as a factor explaining the psychology of his motive*, a certain
spirit of defiances prompt cal him to show that he could wiito a
fugue, and, moreover, a fugue that ventured upon and solved
all sorts of difficulties, combinations and ingenuities; a fugue
that could show both tooth and claw and in whic h no one
should he able to equal him. But Beethoven maintains, where*
he speaks of the olden* art of fugue-writing, that a Imagination
has its rights too,” and that (i a new poetic element ” ought to
be added to the traditional form. It is from these points of
view that the present fugue; ought, to he eonsidere*d ; as we
know, it is not modelled on tlx; traditional systematic code;,
Beethoven himself indicating this (perhaps also by way of
excuse) by writing above it: con alcana lie maze. New, when
the I4inale, despite all the exercise of imagination and inventive¬
ness, and the efforts at renewal, does not arouse; the poetic
 A MAJOR, OPUS ioi 173

in the listener that Beethoven certainly must have

expected, nor communicate the bright joy to be found in
solving a technical problem of music (as, for instance, in a Bach
fu/?ue), this is perhaps because the Master, in his ardent joy
ol creating, did not consider the capacity of the instrument he
was using. Neither the piano of Beethoven’s time nor that
of a later day, no matter how great the mastery exercised in
handling it, would probably be capable of solving clearly and
satisfactorily, for the listener, the problems which have been
act it in this fugue. Even the musical subject gives one
the impression of the almost painfully energetic labour of a
mighty intelligence rather than that of the spontaneous joy
of inspiration, and most minds will probably agree with Thayer’s
(Ricmann’s) general verdict: “As a polyphonic, that is, a
movement in itself difficult of approach, we think it is too
long, and the melodic attraction is too often driven into the
background by the elaborate details, which are certainly full
of art, but often far too dominated by intellect, sometimes to
t he detriment of beauty of tone. . . . The fugue was not the
nat ural form of expression of his deep and singular personality.
Though the Master’s art and the energy of his musical thought
he ever so clearly perceptible to us in this movement, we do
not take leave of it with the feeling of exaltation and inner
warmth produced by other movements of this period.”
When Beethoven sent the manuscript of the sonata to Ries
in London, where it was to be printed, he sent with it the oft-
quoted words : u The sonata has been written under the most
trying conditions, for it is hard to have to write almost for
daily bread, and that is what I have come to.” One is startled
on reading these lines. They may be the outcome of Beet¬
hoven’s morbidly exaggerated anxiety about ways and means,
and are perhaps intended to awaken the sympathy of the
English public, on which he was now more than ever reckoning
(also with a view to a journey to London). Or they may have
 RKKTIIOVFN’S HONATAS
174
been u irony at (lie <«niin.:it Mw.-.-u tl.r -"hu.tdy .-s.ilt.d
world in wind. Inn (.pint wu« n>ovinK, and tin* <»■*•<'> «.U imn-ry
afforded him by life and bin Idlnw m<m. But "» th.-f.amr l.-n.-r
he also nayn: “If ll.e aonala in nul mould.- for Undo., i
could send another one, or you .mild 1-ave out tl.r and
bedn at once at the KuRtie in tl.r larit pir.r; or, hnt
Adagio, at the third Schem and Urpfl and ,-///" rnnluto, I
leave it to you to arrange it an you think bcni." Imponmlde
to understand that Beethoven could with nurli directions and
those not quite dear in reality pive a -itran);.-,- mrir hlanrhr
about his work! , , , ,
For he knew full well wind it wan worth and was quite clear
as to how and where it ought to be pl;urd in his product ion.
When he answered an admirer, who at thin lime expressed his
enthusiasm over the Septet (Opus 20), that "I write better
things now!” it: sounds to our oiid pnbapn unruly like a
genuine Beethoven rejection, irouieal, bubbling or con¬
temptuous, of one who rould now set up t hat old, tuneful
secular music as a model. But when he htmsrlf ( alls the sonata
Ms 66 greatest,” lie can hardly have thought only of its extenor
size, and he writes to llie publisher : u Her** is a sonata foi you
that will give the pianists something to do, and which will be
played fifty years hence,” A re n ho of Beethoven s oial
statement about: tin* sonata may perhaps also be heaid in
Artaria's advance announeemeni in the fP inwr /siluntf of
September 15, i8ry, which says : “ In refraining from all the
usual laudations, which are, moreover, superfluous to all who
value Beethoven's exalted artistic' talent, and thereby also
meeting the author’s wishes, we wish to observe in but a few
lines, that this work is distinguished amongst all the other works
of this Master by the richest, greatest imagination, but that; the
same, in respect of artistic perfection and set style, marks, as
it were, a new period in Beethoven's pianoforte works*”
The Beethoven literature does not seem to contain much
 A MAJOR, OPUS ioi l75
about tbe contemporary reception of the sonata. Was it
pertiapa one of uncomprehending silence or of offence at
being taken by surprise? Nchl quotes some lines from the
“ Id-irbof manuscript,” from which it appears that the novelty
and u romanticism,” as it would be called then, of the first
two movements were to a certain degree understood. These
movements are mentioned in such phrases as “ the mighty
creator of the world,” and “ the deep, creative freedom of the
Master,” while there is little understanding of the Adagio,
and silence, apparently, about the Fugue-Finale.
 DtiRtNf; these (later) years of his life Beethoven otuc tilled
the piano, till then the instrument he v.dm*d most, a u davi~
eymbalum miscrabiled’ If not intended as a rough jest, it may
have meant: that: his imagination was now engaged on such ideas
and problems that the piano no longer satisfied him an a means
for their expression. Thin may, an previously tourhed upon,
have been the case with the Final? of the B flat sonata. Ife
may also have meant: that, what he now had In hin mind wan not
so much piano music an hitherto understood, an a non/? of the
soul, having nothing to do with ordinary piano playing. liven
at the present day the variations in tin* K major and, C minor
sonatas suggest the, thought that they are meant to be* nun/?
rather than played on the piano. Meanwhile, before bidding
farewell to Iris erstwhile favourite inntininriit, he bestows
upon it: three gifts, which fully prove hin old love for the
piano, and which, in contrast to the B flat sonata, are intimate
and introspective.
These are the sonatas Opus rny (K major), Opus no (A flat;
major) and Opun in (C minor), whh It, as (he numbers show,
followed each other in dose succession, without other inter¬
mediate works, but otherwise so that only the two latter were
written “ straight off ” a year after the first was published.
In theme they are somewhat; akin, enpeeially Opus 109 and uo.
The sonata Opus 109 in E major is dedicated to Mad-
miliane Brentano, a young niece of the Bettina who for a
time no doubt meant a great deal to Beethoven, as we have
heard. She was the daughter of a Frankfort merchant,
Franz Brentano, who with his wife, Antonie, nfa Birkenstock,
176
 V. MAJOR, OPUS 109 177

war an intimate and sympathetic friend of the composer, and

had le-lped him when lie was in financial difficulties.
Muxiniiliaue seems to have regarded Beethoven as a sort of
kind hn( somewhat eccentric uncle. The dedication of the
fionala would he intended chiefly as a compliment to her
parents, and moat certainly cannot be interpreted as an indica¬
tion of tender feelings for this quite young girl. It is more
likely that her mother had a warm place in Beethoven’s heart,
yet only Unit of a friend. Frau Brentano was famed by all
who knew her, as one of the noblest and most interesting
mem hers of their circle. Thus, her brother-in-law, the well-
known romantic author, Clemens Brentano, writes to her»:
“ pur in yon, my dear, the idol worship of our family, and
unfortunalely also its mythology and its poetry, has found
its object.” By good fortune the husband of this charming
woman was “the best man in the whole of Europe.” At
1 he beginning of the nineteenth century these gifted and
lovable people moved to Vienna, where Beethoven became
iheir frequent and welcome guest. Frau Antonie was frail in
health and often refused to see visitors, but there is a story
reminding one of that told about Dorothea von Ertmann and
her dead child, in which we are told that Beethoven came, sat
down in the room next to that of his suffering friend and
played improvisations to her for a long time. When he had
told her all that he could in his own language and comforted
her he went out as quietly as he had come, without speaking
to anyone else in the house.
In the letter that Beethoven sent with the sonata he writes .

“ To Maximiliane von Brentano—a dedication !!!

“ Ah, well, it is not one of those that are misused by the
thousand. There is a spirit that unites all the best and noblest
people on this round earth, and which no age can disturb,
and that is the spirit now speaking to you and showing you
M
r/8 BK|(TIIOVKN’S SONATAS

to me an il did in your < Idldlmod, as well a:t your Kplmdid and

gifU'd nmllier, and your jpmil and kind Imaried lalher. Never
will I loan the memory of people no lovable, and may you often
think of me in kindnetm. . .

Beellmvcn’n delicacy, often :to beautifully '•xprevirH, i:i ueen

in the let,ter which he wrote at the name time to Maximiliuue a
father, and in which he tiayri: “ Without ankin;; your leave, I
made bold to dedicate a work of mine to your niece IVbue ”
(an odd alip of the pen for “ daughter ”). “ Will you a< tept.
this as a token of my constant, affection for yon and all your
family, and not: mininterprel: thin dedication an in any nenrie.
a reward? that, would hurt me very much; there are other
and finer motives for midi thinjui, if one must look for
motives. . »
Beethoven wrote to the publisher, Schlcsinger (in Berlin),
asking him to publish the nonut;i under the following title:
ct Senate fur dun Jhtmmerklavier urutt utnl deni hniulrin
Maximiliane Breniano gewhlmet,” aiul to add the year of
publication, “such a a J have often wished, but mwm has any
publisher done no.”
When the sonata appeared, at the end of ttiu, neither thin
wi«h nor that about the (Jerman title had been renpo ted !
The E major nonata is in three movements, of which only
the middle one is fairly faithful to the, traditional nonata form.
The first movement begins: If mm, ma non iropfw, smipre
legato, with a whimsical and charming theme, dclh ately touched
with feeling, and undulating between the (wo hands; a light
and graceful, somewhat sprightly piece of music, which in
regard to its dedication, might well suggest the thought of an
easily moved, buoyant and charming girlish mind. Yet in
saying this it is by no means intended to suggest that there
is any connection between the manic and the dedication.
Presently this tone given way to lengthened arpeggio chords ;
 E MAJOR, OPUS 109 i?9
an andante espressivo, which, as so often happens in these
last sonatas, sings ethereal melodies on the higher notes; then
the Vivace reappears in the fantastic play of tone, to be inter¬
rupted anew by the Adagio, When the rapid part is heard
again, light, and as it were, more earthly, it is robbed of some
of its vivacity* A cantabile passage breaks into it, singing
out rest and peace, and in distant chords the music dies away
in a deep and closely placed p chord. (Biilow, not without
reason, added another p) A writer thus interprets this passage :
a The world,” that would call the master away from his work
on the Mass, is symbolised in the Adagio sections. For a
time the world prevails, but when the unearthly voice of the
Mass is heard again it seems to have overcome the world.
It is highly probable that the Master had some vision before
him when the theme of this music arose in his mind—we have
it on his own word that such was often the case—and the
varying character of the music assuredly contains a symbol.
But what is it? Perhaps the delicate and graceful Vivace
movement suggests rather a yearning after some feminine ideal,
but lacking the Master’s own interpretation we are on uncer¬
tain ground.—The Prestissimo following it is also a lyrical
movement, but cast in a firmer mould. It soon becomes
evident that its introductory and leading theme, as has often
been pointed out, is closely related to the melodic form
for which Mendelssohn later showed great predilection. In
the case of Beethoven this melody is a rarity in its somewhat
strained and external passion, this mode of expressing passion
being foreign to him. Meanwhile it is interesting to see in
this instance, as in the sonata Opus 101, how the spirit of
romanticism finds utterance in these last works of the Master,
yet the majestic strides of the bass, which sustain the melody
and play their part throughout the movement, the solemn
secondary theme, the graceful passage and the inspired con¬
clusion of the piece are altogether Beethoven.
 tn.'l.'TimV HINTS SONATA*

Aflcr ihifi ,'ieetioii < omes a Fiutilr, soothing like oil on burning
wound:!. At tin* head of tlu.u movement, a tlmme will, the
variations no dear to Beethoven, there am, in addition In the
uniuil insl met ions in llw conventional Italian, lullin', deeper
and more intimate ones in CJcnuau: f/Vu/«gu‘W/ mu! nut
imiiptrr Kmpliiulunp. It would In- impossible Ini1 ilu- pi-mo
l.o sing mil thin beautiful theme will. enough ptirily mid
tenderness lo satisfy him ! Thr mddc simplicity ohliu melody
makes it’ easily understood by everyone, while it must siir
the feeling! of all who have any ear for mush . It moves on
ilie simplest intervals, unstained by simple, natural harmonies,
in its ineffable tenderness and depth of feeling it is somewhat
like a folk-song. The melody is like a loving, sympathetic
hand, gently stroking the bead of a sufferer and giving relief
where relief can be given. 1 nvolunI;trily this Ihouj-ht suggests
itself, when one remembers the dedication ami Beetlioven’s
endeavour to eomforl his si. It friend, Antonie Bienl.mo, with
his music. In the lirsl of the vaiialimis the composer soars
up above earthly things, seeking ethereal regions in which the
melody, in a slightly altered form, moves Iteely and hide-
pendently, fiustaiued only by the most necessaiy harmonies
forming iis accompaniment. 'The noles seem to betkon
down a’heavenly hope. In the next variations, in whhh the
theme it), oil the whole, easily perceptible, there is at limes a
charming gnua-fulness like that in the lirsl movement, ai otherti
a bright gaiety, and again at other times lb'* <omposer yields
to his fancy for writing in fugue form, until in the last varia¬
tion he again soars from ihe earth to where stars gleam and
twinkle in long sparkling chains of trills. Vet this sonata
was not to end in ethereal regions; he leads it bu< k with the
unerring hand of a master to a more earthly and human
close, and finishes with the consoling melody in its original
form, with the unforgettably beautiful theme oi the
variations.
 A FLAT MAJOR, OPUS no 181

The next sonata, Opus no in A ILu major, has been called

•*landscape smula” (O. Bin), a description that sounds
ilcvi-r, luil which is scarcely more than that. Perhaps Nature
liaidly ever spoke Inin difitinctly in Beethoven’s music nor
inspired him less lhan in these last sonatas. They express, in
a very high decree, like the. quartets written soon after,
quin- personal moods and stales of soul. Even though the
glorious /Iihi/'io in Opus 106 may have come into being in the
composer’ll mind during his stay in the lovely Briihler valley,
the munit tells us nothing about this source of its inspiration.
Nor is there the slightest indication in the A flat sonata that it
took form while Beethoven was staying at Ddbling. There is
nothing descriptive or scenic to be found in this music.^ It
seems to he a purely spontaneous utterance of the feelings
that stirred Beethoven’s heart and mind when he wrote it.
ft is in a marked degree the music of a mood, and one may
venture to sum up that mood in the one word: memories.
'PI,,.,.,.about l lie whole of it something soft and transfigured—
•IS 1 here is sonietlines about memories; at the same time,
jK.(!UI,;r it is the utterance of a stricken man who feels the
advance of yearn, there in a tender melancholy, a plaintive
resignation at the sad “ never more”; at the bitter thought
that' the past is irrevocably gone. Impulsive outbursts or
strong excitement', as in the sonatas nearest akin to this,
< hum ' 10A and r. t, occur in only a slight degree. Even the
choice of key indicates a dreamy and emotional mood, and
Beethoven demands at the outset that the first movement.,be
played cantalAU and mlto csfressivo--an insistence on
!,( m tlio Y »rtd“e
theme is furthermore to be played con amahhth, and the
significance of this should not be overlooked, in particular

bL. it « abnoflt
Beethoven’s piano music; that is, m the Bagatellen,
at about the same period.
X8* BKICTJIO VKN*B SONATAS
'Phe very inUfiit* of the movement a ho f mula to Tow f hut
It ifi not: altogether a flight of fancy to talk of a 14 memory
sonata,5* The melody < afun* (he beautiful intro >
due lory bars must have1 eon t ahmd uieneu lea bn beH hnven.
Judging from itn character it may have led hio thoughts lark
to Iijb youth, when the Mo'/,arfhm cantilena was held in high
favour, and the accompaniment Itself In simple and old«
fashioned, and as one might say, pie Beetbovem Hmdiy,
there is the melody, Beethoven had sung it Before in only
slightly varied forms, and it now surges op again in his
memory, to he clothed by him in its purest and simplest form :

Sonata ()/>. 10. No, l. ran

p • r*
li i J ■rr
Violin sonata Op. 30, No. 3. im

fcw, ~ "

Trio. Op. 70.

^r^irp nr
r

Sonata. Of, 110, 1^1

* * fj
.» # • (■1 v | 1 1 r fir*
^ I i

In the sonata the melody plays the. part of one of those

evanescent themes that fade away without any formal con¬
clusion in arpeggiated chords, like mournful dmumv—1The
introductory theme only is used in the typically whorl, modula¬
tion passage, and if one can be guided by Ricmamds opinion
 A FLAT MAJOR, OPUS no 183

on the subject, this again may have been a memory of the

cloning theme in the preceding E major, sonata.

Op. 100. Andante.

<>/>. no._,

The modulatory passage is in a parallel minor key reached by

a single bold tone-gradation, and also seems to give voice
to the disquiet and pain that memories may bring with them.
The harsh dissonant harmonies, the restlessly moving bass-
figures, though quickly yielding to a gentle transfigured calm,
show, in an unexpected and threatening discord in the last
bar but one of the movement, that the Master could not
always “ remember ” without a drawn line of pain appearing
about his lips. . , . „
'rhe Scherzo that follows, as pointed out above, is the first
F minor piece in the series of sonatas since the “ Appassionata.
Its leading theme is somewhat fierce, and is not an expression
of Beethoven’s gay humour, when he is on good terms with
life but, as a German interpreter rightly says, it. is grim an
forbidding ” * The connection with the preceding movement
L wdl “»en,=d. Who, other writer, point oot the lienee,
of the next theme with the tune of a popular ditty: Ich
bin liederlich, etc.,” it is rather doubtful whether, one ough
to pay any attention to this resemblance as an.instance of
humour. Was Beethoven ever conscious of it himseh
Besides it was no uncommon thing for the Viennese classical
compose to make use of a popular theme in their instru¬
mental music. However this may have been, the brusque and
* “ Was rauhes und grimmiges.”—Tr.
 184 HKKTI10VNN\S SON ATAH
jovial humour noon given place io a queer and fan untie trie
movement in wlii< li (hr humorous elenienf h put to lli^ht,
whilr lhr delicately shaded memory d reams seem (o gnat
about thr MunuT.n head or to hover in bin mind, Thr
intangible, gossamer light pannage?; on the higher notes oj (hr
piano, in with h tin* Irft hand seems arbitrarily to oprinkh*
deeper notes likr a frail and extended foundation, make no
alight demand on thr performer1.'! art in expression and inter
p rotation. It may well have inspired the piano music of young
Robert Schumann. The surprising finish o( tin* ,SVhn^.n in a
major key again a reversion to “ old times n y, i„,w fr]|
to be the Master’s retrospeclive gaze, gentle and tender, but
free from pain.
The hunt; section of the beautiful ramata finals does not
aeem a fitting name for it begun; in an unusual way, like an
orchestral introduction (o a voeal fame, and noon a “ ret native”
is actually heard. It in a typical mode of expression in the
hunt works. I to deeply moved, earnent u apeaking ” in im
mediately followed by a eonfiguration which again a jeminis*
eence of curlier days seems an though it would lepioduc e the
languishing quiver (“IMmng") no much in lavour in the
days of the old clavichords.* Thin introduction leadn up to
the beautiful Arioso, called by Beethoven himself dolnitt, for
which, he has chosen the remote key of A Hat minor, an only
once before in a sonata movement (Opu.n M>). An infinitely
touching song, in its fining and falling cadences, in which the
melody entirely predominates, the hann only sustaining and
accompanying it, and cloning with the seeming hopelessness of
t\m fp octaves. After the hunt Fmmtn the mood changes;
the tmpo to allegro {non troppo) and the pure homophony to
strictly maintained polyphony. Once more t he fugue* becomes
a spiritual fountain as a source of outlet for an emotion that

In, the loth edition of KioisuMt’o Mmu.ul Iht'ttntutry Unit hurrmfCUiou of (hr
figure is discounted.
 A I1' I. AT MAJOR, OPUS no 185

iliicMirut’d to become overpowering, hut above this fugue

Beethoven has not written any “con alcuna lizence.” Here,
when- lie has not written, nor wished to write a tradi¬
tional fugue. In- has succeeded in doing justice to the poetic
element. The theme anti fugue arc built up on simple,
beautiful lines, on a noble, ringing melody, as though the
composer had in his mind the masterpieces of Bach, or perhaps
rather ol 1 Itindel. Yet. the delicately branched-out work of
this ingenious and poetic fugue docs not give him rest for his
tioul. After the last crescendo, in which the theme is boomed
out in bass o< taves, a violent; shake and arpeggio lead with the
jerk of an abrupt interval of a second into G minor, in which
key the el r i/no is repealed and sounds gentler perhaps, but
ipiite as (barged with pain, and somehow duller in tone.
Beethoven himself writes above it perdendo la forza, and the
few changes now presented by the Arioso seem to reproduce
rest rained sighs of longing, not unlike the Quartet-Cavatina
in K flat major with its “Beklemmt.” Could it be that
Beethoven was influenced by the trend to romanticism
prevalent in the early years of the nineteenth century?
In the intellectual world of Germany such men as Wacken-
roder, Novalis and Tieck came under its sway, and they
are outstanding, highly strung and super-sensitive examples
of this spirit, hut the. stupendous art of Beethoven could not
lie aliened by it; his genius would break free as soon as it
felt itself threatened by such a danger. It did so in this case,
lie soon abandons emotion and seeks for strength where he
known it can he found—in arduous intellectual work. The
fugue reappears, hut with an inverted theme, in versione della
Fu/'a. Chantavoine would have it that this theme in this
form in a forerunner of the “ Es muss sein ” motif in the
quartet Opus 135, and therefore thinks it is significant in a
way somewhat like that maintained above. The Master now
elaborates the theme under various forms and according to all
i86 BKKTUOVFN’K SONATAS
the uWnuhm of the <mir.tp.mul until fim. the
part, and then tl.« aiylr h abandoned, and the ;«.,m U
L brought lo a hrillia.it Non.- will. Hm -‘.m* *“ ud]
chords, in spite of all dissonance a victory over sad »«emor«*#*

The A flat sonata appeared in Paris ami Berlin a Sehlemnger

It carries no dedication, ahhough i. must haw be-m the <•»«*»■■
poser’s intention to dedicate it to Frau Antonie Bren.ano,
Maximiliane’s mother. For unexplained reasons the «m» t a
went forth without any name hut that of Beethoven on the
title-page. If it is to he regarded an a sonata of (the Master »)
maamaaoSm i 4‘ tet an !

It is not quite dear whether there are any special reason!. f< >r
the dedication of the next and last sonata, that in ( minor.
Opus in. Beethoven leli it m tin* publisher to de< id«- to
whom it was to he dedicated. He mems, after all, to liave
arrived at a decision himself, as In* write,, to tin- An lid.tier.
Rudolph, that since the Prince likes the new tamata so mm h,
he will do himself the honour of dedhating it to him. Piol > •
ably Beethoven and hid publisher were agreed lhat it wot. 1.1
be both right: and fitting if ihiti sonata, too, bore the iiafiir-
of the Master’s royal pupil, for it did so when sent forth into
the world. It: was published in tin* spring <hO -*x
Schlesinger’s ‘ ires re.sfer.lumsemenl tied tie A am ////cor / ttt
finale Monseigneur CArchiduc Rtuloljihe, tie.
The form of dedication is probably lhat of Sehle!,mjp*r
rather than of Beethoven.
The sonata contains only two pieced, a Mae,Unto leading up
to an Allegro con brio cd appassionato and an Adagio mot to
semplice e cantabile. In itself this t wo movement tone in a
Beethoven sonata is not surprising, hut: mteraitcd m.tetm*-
porary musicians were astonished to find that the son ft t. a
finished with an Adagio. Could a sonata really finish wi th
 c MINOR, OPUS III 187

?mrh ;i movement.? Schindler questioned his Master and

received I he reply that “ he had not had time to write a third
movement,” Thin answer lias been eagerly seized upon as a
frrnh imiUnco of Beeuhoven’a drastic and half-contemptuous
altitude* to the puzzled inquirer, and once again Beethoven’s
humour has been a source of delight. Perhaps with some
cause. But as Beethoven had actually sketched out an Allegro
Finale and it is, moreover, a fact that the sonata was a sort
of intermediate work, while the demands for the completion
of the great: Mass were continually becoming more pressing,
it is quite possible that: Beethoven briefly gave Schindler a
simple piece of information without any hidden malice. It is
true that this information leaves out the most important
point, that is, that after the idea for this final movement had
taken shape in his mind it would be quite clear to Beethoven
that; he did not need “ time ” for any other Finale. Not
only was a Finale not required, but would have been antagon¬
istic: to the character of the sonata, already complete without
it, Schindler was not alone, however, in his curiosity as to
the absence of a Finale ; the publisher, too, was surprised at
it, and distinctly nervous. First the younger Schlesinger
writes from Paris that: before proceeding with the printing
of the new sonata, “which contains so many beauties, that
only 1 lie* great: Master himself could have created it, I take
the liberty of asking whether you have only written one
Maestoso and one Andante for this work, or whether the
Allegro has perhaps been left behind by mistake at the music
copyist’s/’ As Beethoven evidently did not think this lack
of comprehension worth any answer, the elder Schlesinger
himself wrote from Berlin : “ In the present letter I only
write to ask, with regard to the second sonata that you have
sent me, and in which the second part is entitled Arietta (etc.),
whether there is not to be a third and final part. I beg you
urgently to send it to my son in Paris, addressed (etc.) or to
*88 B MKT MOV BN’S SONATAS

inform him on llw subject.” It would have been rather

{mm:iing to have had Beethoven’:! answer to thin in<|im}% in
addition to his reply to Schindler! One wondem whether
Beethoven wan not perhaps being somewhat Mipro ihoU i in
thin silence towards tin* junior publisher.
The first part of this .sonata has Beethoven’;* own heading
of appassionato* This definition involuntarily takes one’s
though in hack to Opus 57, and if you glance over the. im¬
passioned ones in the whole aerie:!, the sonata ol youth in h
minor (Opus 2, No. 3), especially its Final?, the work of man¬
hood’s years in the name key (Opun fp/), and now thin hint sonata
in the C minor key that meant no much to Beethoven, a
comparison of both the spiritual and musical (pialitien will be
well re]jaid and give a deep insight into the Master*:! (hanging
manner and mode ol expression, I he Beethoven of thin
Appassionato alU'pto in another than tin* <omponer of the
gentle and ethereal A flat sonata. We have Indore nn the
Beethoven of the last yearn of his life such an pot Hayed above.
Thin wan the man who, nuflering deeply in mhi! and body,
found no com pans ion or help in anyone; win?, longing for
peace and concord with hin fellow men, wan met by Indiffrjem e
or ill-will. He it wan, who wrote thin u Maento.no ” and
a Allegro Appassionato.” An a few yearn later he wan to nit
up on his death-bed, with hin clenched fiat, raised high and
threateningly, no, in his grand tminic language he now < leiu hen
his hand and threatens the world and the destiny which
allowed him to suffer without, understanding him or bringing
him comfort. At the beginning of bis hint sonata he hin In the
lightning and thunder that: were to attend the hint hour of
his life. The ascending chords of the Maestoso^ which Beet¬
hoven perhaps never equalled elsewhere in power and con¬
ciseness—the glorious, strong and bold modulation;!, after the
booming voices of storm in the bass, find an outlet, like
u a volcanic fire,” in that tremendous anathema, the three-
 c MINOR, OPUS m 189
toned itwiij, petrifying like t]ie wrathful gaze of a Titan. Rie-
manti ban drawn a parallel between this theme and the chief
melody in St liubert’n beautiful song of u Atlas,” and the
re.Memblaiu «* in significant, because in both cases the composers
wished to express the revolt and defiance of a Titan, of gigantic
suffering, as in the words t)f Heine’s poem,, u Die ganze Welt
tier S< Inner/, en miifis ich tragen ! ”
This biding theme *■- -Beethoven at first intended to use it
in a fugue, but; with the keen insight of genius he gave up
this idea really dominates the whole of the impassioned
first movement, in which the numerous directions as to tone-
shading, the frequent; changes of temp (and retinente and
similar directions) indicate the violent emotion that it
expresses.
The theme is continued in thundering octave-passages, and
as an accompanying theme it is given a kindred tone-figure,
which mostly contributes to increase the impassioned flight
of notes fit ill further,

while a secondary theme, as so frequently occurs in the music

of this period, is indicated rather than carried out. Its A flat
major need of opening its arms in the wild struggle to those
“ who suffer and arc heavy-laden ” does not make headway.
After the huge leaps from the highest treble to the deep bass
preceding its appearance, it remains feeble and delicate, and its
gentle mood is soon torn asunder by the passionate^passage
of discords sweeping down the whole length of the keyboard
one is reminded of corresponding outbursts in Opus 57. The
# Beethoven had noted it twenty years before his present use of it
190 BHUTllOVKN'H SONATAS
leading theme is again the ruling one in its hath
while the first part is brought to a < lose fhumgh hurrying
semi-quaver passages with exciting »funrM/i*
Following bin firnt intention, and at this thue his p<availing
desire, the Master introduces a fugal part into tljr modulatory
section* But, an though feeling the need ot a hrrr mode of
expression here, Beethoven noon given up the fugal manner,
and we witness, an in the ease of the u Appassionata 11 sonata,
his increasing excitement, canned by the exmiions ot Inn atf,
and the development; of a passion continually growing hi
violence* The section that culminates with the main tlnmie
played in four unison octaves in In Its scantinenn one n| the
most pathetic and stately passages in tin* sonatas, ft will be
noticed, however, that; tin! second theme, when it comm
forward again (in C major), has acquired greatet weight, as
it were, and gained more room for itseil : a hatmonums ending
to the movement is already presaged. But the impassioned
leading theme is still predominant ; once more the < rushing
discords thunder clown the whole length of the Imyboatd,
and soon we perceive (in the comparatively short tml,i) how the
Master intends with a great, effort to calm the spirit tom by
conflicting pass,ions. The dissonant \j chords, gradually
falling in,to dmimmdo and significantly closing on the un¬
accented beat, are like a rider curbing his wild horse by sheer
power and strength of will. There arc' still low tumblings
in the bass, reminders of sufferings and struggles gone through,
but the trembling discord, and its resolution into calm C major
chords fading away to p/>, testify to the calm that has been
reached at last, and form the natural transition to tin* final
movement of the sonata, which assuredly, as flans von Billow
# W. Nagel in probably right In flaying that ihni fit«t pari should not br ** *rprafr<l/'
in spite of Beethoven*® directionaj a mimic out burnt no violent amt M if, w^re
involuntary, and improvised in character, may lour rather than gain imrrrst by
being immediately repeated. JWidea, the phasic form of the main motive tnttlrr*
it easy to follow it® treatment in the mming part.
 C MINOR, OPUS III 191

would have it, ought to follow without almost any intervening

pause.
A more beautiful close to Beethoven’s sonata wort than
this Adagio cannot be imagined. It may accidentally have
become the last stone in the monument of the world-famous
series, yet one would like to think it significant that this pure,
transfigured and exalted music was to be his last word as a
sonata composer. A Danish author * once wrote that Beet¬
hoven, with an “ odd, savage irony,” called this piece an
arietta. If there is any trace of irony in the choice of title—
and who, in considering Beethoven’s whole nature, will dare
to deny it ?—then it must be a genius of irony that has risen
above a world of good and evil, to the threshold of a purified
region, and to heights from which it can contemplate all things
earthly in diminutive form. But there is nothing a savage ”
to be found in this music. It is true that these variations
were not written by one who was happy, in the ordinary
commonplace sense of civic life, but by one who had come to
terms with the world and himself—and who feels that he has
conquered because he has attained to harmony.
Moreover, Beethoven’s conception of the movement is made
evident by his having added to the Adagio; molto semplue e
cantabiley and once more it is seen that during these last years,
simplicity of expression is his most frequent aim; spiritually
considered, the movement, together with the first part of the
sonata, gives a picture of the Beethoven that the previous
chapter essayed to describe, with the great irreconciled con¬
trasts between embitterment, hate, defiance on the one side,
and gentleness, self-chastening and religious surrender on the
other.
This movement is molto semplice from the very beginning
of the theme, which is somewhat in the direct style of a folk¬
song. One learns with wonder that in its original form the
* Karl Gjellerup: Der Dicbter and Denker, Dresden, 1921-22.
192 HKIiTIIOVKN’H HONATAS

melody lucked (he figure vvliM Ii gave it its iMlur.il grs< e and
suppleness, and vvlii< 1* further on means so nun In

The variation!} are “ very nlm|dc%^ in fipii*• ol I In it dmnunds

upon 1 he technique, mid mill more on (hr drrp tmdrmmnding
and humility of their interpreter. Tiny were wtiumt by tin*
Master aft nr In* had uttered his hut word ol doom to tin*
world, and had retired to hhi own 41 itattsfigured v> region,
where hr wrote only to satisfy himself, Often strange, iin-
palpable not cm, like l hoar of dreams, are heard in ihw varum
lions; they are akin to the memory moods ol tin* A Hat sonata,
[nil h<n*n the* memories seem to have I»een weight up into it
Htill purer region, rendering them mean beau tilul; and tin*
hut remnant of bitterness has vaniulo-cl, together with every
trace of the morbid sensitivriiess of tin* time*.
The theme h akio simple from a hat monte point ol view.
G major predominate in it ; not until the se< oinl pan does
the delicate* sombrenrss of A minor supervene, The vaiiatimm
follow jnut art tiimply in regard to k<*y ; lor a ohm t spat e ottly
room in given to the more remote K (lat, bnt G major noon
ret urn«, and at length (In* A minor ret ream no that (hr* pie< e
may done in the tmdimmed brightimss ol a dear and ringing
G major.
Rhythmically considered, the variations are not so simple.
On the contrary, they are (allied u an Antlnmi to Rhythm,”
and they certainly are a rhythmic anthem, brimful of invrn-
livened and imagination. Foremost among (In* < lassies the
rhythmist has here once more displayed all bis strength and
beauty. Ft; in therefore difficult to agree with Hans von Billow
in feeling a a Nirvana ” mood in this music. Quite exteriorly
one notices strange, uncommon time-beats, rarely or newer
 C MINOR, OPUS hi *93
before used, such as 9-16, 6-16, 12-32. This multiform
rhythm, which one admires in variation after variation, points
towards the future, as well as the Beethoven impressionistic
form of utterance, mentioned earlier, and evident in the
fourth variation, in which “ the bass sounds like a misty, soft
and dull humming, like a distant sound of bells, with floating,
mystic chords borne by the wind, above them ”; with the
softness of night they seem to cover the notes of the melody
lying hidden in them. Everything is hinted at here, there
is a feeling of something ominous behind it. It is after this
variation that room is made for a moment for the key of E flat
and for a contrasting, mournfully accented short antiphon
between the treble and bass. But soon (in the last variation)
the melody rises on the wings of C major in high full notes,
above everything earthly, until (as in Opus 109), wreathed in
a chain of trills, it symbolises the joy of the Master at the
deliverance of his soul from all that would drag it down.
We seem again to gaze up at a vault of gleaming stars, and this
is the end of the last sonata movement. If, as it seemed for a
while, Beethoven had thought of concluding this Adagio
with the theme in its original form, we understand full well
that he could not have done so here, where he seems to
have risen above all things earthly; where the marvellous
beauty of his world of music and the deep wisdom of Ins
thoughts have opened for us a view into a beautiful, mystic
and far-off land.

We have come to the end of our contemplation of Beethoven s

piano sonatas. Link by link we have gone through the long
chain of these beautiful tone-poems, completed one
years ago. No music poet has ever been able to produce
their like, and it is doubtful whether the ™f*J*T* ^
ever see anything to compare with them. v ry
o
*94 ftKKTlIOVKN’ti SONATAS

chain has taken form in the imaphiation of a pnbus, It has

been modelled by the hand of an a ft ist, and humpht to j af¬
fection hy his untiring perseyetam t\ In tin* maiti thio ue\irs
of sonatas has remained miaffetird hy the passage of itmr,
It, contains some of tlie moat valuable piodm tIon j of the art
of music, and even (hone whi(h have retftained leafs known, h*a,a
often played, and which occupy a humbler p!u< e in the aenVrs,
are of value ami umsequence, repurded in the lipht of the
Master’s personality and of the < ir< umstam es of hio life, as it
lias been the aim of these studies to point out.
Beethoven’s sonatas, as explained in the prelate and in the
first chapter, have here been considered from certain limited
points of view. If those who wash to make a deeper study of
the sonatas find that; this little hook is a useful atid illuminating
help towards tmderstandinp and performing these jpeat
musical works of art, then its object will have been a< hieved*
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books to which, reference has chiefly been made :
(L) Biographies of Beethoven; the most valuable is that by A. W.
Thayer (Ludwig van Beethoven’s Leben, 1866; edited, revised, and
translated into English by H. E. Krehbiel, 1921) ; next those by
A. F. Schindler (Biographie von Ludwig van Beethoven, 1840, 1845,
1909; translated into English, edited by J. Moscheles, 1841);
L. Nohl (Beethoven’s Leben, 1867; revised by P. Sakolowski, 1912;
translated by J. J. Lalor, 1884, 1893; by Emily Hill, 1895); A. B.
Marx (Ludwig van B., Leben und Schaffen, 1901); W. A. Thomas-San
Galli (Ludwig van B., 1913); P. Bekker (Beethoven, 1911; translated
by M. M. Bozman, 1925) ; J. Chantavoine (Beethoven, 1907); T. von
Frimmel (B. und Goethe 1883 ; and Josef Danhauser und B., 1892);
G. Ernest (Beethoven: Personlichkeit, Leben und Schaffen, 1920).
(ii.) Works dealing especially with the sonatas: by A. B. Marx
(Anleitung zumVortrag Beethovenscher Klavierwerke, 1875)» C-H-C.
Reinecke (Die Beethoven’schen Clavier-Sonaten, 1896, 1912; trans¬
lated into English as the Beethoven Pianoforte Sonatas, 1898); E. von
Elterlein (B.’s Pianoforte Sonatas, 1898); Wilibald_ Nagel (B. und
seine Klaviersonaten, 1923, 1924); C. W. J- H. Riemann (L. van
Beethovens samtliche Klavier-Solosonaten, 1919)*
(iii.) Other works: Dr. A. C. Kalischer’s Beethovens samtliche
Briefe, 1906-1909; trans. by J. S. Shedlock, 1909; F. G. Wegeler and
F. Ries’s Biographische Notizen liber L* van B., 1838, l<^o6 ; T. von
Frimmel’s Beethoven-Studien, 1905; Dr. A. C. Kalischer’s Beethovens
Frauenkreis, 1910; F. KersPs Die Erinnerungen an Beethoven, 1913^
(iv.) Also less important books by L. Ritter von Kochel (Drei
und achtzig . . . Original-Briefe, 1865); La Mara [pseudonym,
Marie Lipsius] (Beethoven und die Brunsviks, 1920); Max Unger
(Ludwig van Beethoven und seine Verleger, 1921); Conrad Huschle
(Beethoven als Pianist und Dirigent, 1919); and others.
(v.) Articles in periodicals, especially in the publications of the
Internationale Musikgesellschaft and in Die Musik.
 CONSPECTUS or IIEKTHOVKN'8 PtANOPORTH
SONATAS

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 INDEX
Names and Works (excluding Pianoforte Sonatas)

Beethoven's Works (continued): .

ArttemUi, 98 String Quartet m E flat major (Op.
Anuxiqpmw, 43 74), 129,185 b
Aftmia, 174, --m B flat major (Op. 130), 171
— — in F major (Op. 135), 185
--- (Great Fugue) (Op. 133),
Hath, J. K., 1 ■*«/., 7. «li H‘> ‘73) »*S
I'h. I{.,f), M) >1) 140, *7*
ll.11 iiaja,7J’, Septette, 95,174
Bmienilehl, if 6 Triple Concerto^ 103
Beethoven, <%irt van, 86, 95) *53 “ Kgmont,” music of, 129
Johmm van, 86 “ Fidelia,” 48, 103, 105, 112
imti van (the nrplmw), *5* Mfi* “ Misia Solemnis,” 14°? *49) *54
“ Coriolan Overture,” 113
Brettnmn's Works “ Christus am Oelberge ” (The Mount
(mlirr than ilm Sonatas) ? of Olives), 53
Pi,mo Trloa (Ojn i), 17, 26, 45 H Wellingtons Sieg,” 1425,148
Der glorreiche Augenblick,” 143
B flat major I no, r65
** Bagafccllcn ” (Op. 53), 47
Pant .mm lor Piano (Op. ,77))*9) I2,°) I2,3
Piano Cnwrrto in O minor, 50, 153,102 — (Op. 126), 181
rin O major, 112, 120 Heiligcnstadt Testament, The, 88, 95
in 1C Hal. major, 51, wo, 129, Letter to the “ immortally beloved,”
14c? 68 scq.
(’onrerton, The, 3) 26
Beethoven’s piano-playing, 19 seq.
32 Variations for Piano in C minor, 120
PianoTrio (Op. 97), 22, *40 — deafness, 38 seq.
V, major Symphony (No. 1), 53 Dchnkc, 131
i> major Symphony (No. 2), 46, 50. Befckcr, P., n, 49
H Krotru ” Symphony (No. 3), 43, 5°) Berlioz, H., 38
6n, 94 Bie, O., 181
Bigot, Marie, 107
B flat, major Symphony (No. 4)) m
C minor Symphony (No. 5), 59) IIa Brahms, J., 82, 127
Braun, P. von, 48
Pastoral Symphony (No. 6), 82
—-— Baroness von, 48
Symphony in A major (No. 7), n
Breitkopf and H&rtel, 55> *32 ..
in l) minor (No. 9), 170 Brentano, Antonie, 174 seq., 180, i»o
Violin Concerto, 112 — Bettina, 69, 135, 138, *76
Violin Sonatas, The, 2 seq.
-Clemens, 177
Violin Sonata (Op. 24), 78 --Franz, 174 seq., 176
Op. 96), HO --Maximiliane, 176 seq., 180
Kreutser), m
*97
108
BteimiuKi Kl^orunr von, ia, 4", qH
■ (Vrlmi'd, n
Itleplnm, »A, » >0 00, t *‘S » ^
Htldpelovver, 60
Hrifkh Miifirum, q4
llroudwood, 167
Browne, t’mint von, |t m*<|.;
Countefifq 4b 84
Uruutiwu k, <Vunl, OH, no; nrq,, »6u
JohrpliStir, Oq
Tliemm von, 69 tuni., uy ut; iirq,
IMlow, 11. von, ah, 1/4, MM« Mb MS
i60, fOq, 171, 1701 »9‘0 nM
(Vntlereaph, bord, 14H
tdumluvojne, xH<5
Cherubini, m
Clemeuli, it3 mop, a6, 36
Cohn, !•’. (publkher), 0t
Comlmrleu,
C.ratner, ?,<) t
Crum, (publkher), 70
<Verity, 18, ai, 4°» b'O 7(h nh u'^ BK1*
Kder, Joseph (pul(ISfilter), y
Kluwbetb AJrCievrui, Kmpmtfi, 14 |
Klferlein, O4
Krlrnami, Dorothea von, lO|Netp, 177
Kind ter, Kdwin, /a
bon I ante, M. dr, 148
boitlrnrlle, 8
I'Vied JlAm ler, Matt, 6 a
Oade, NInU W», HU
(leliodt, <8
(Vorpr IV of Knpbmd, 14a
Gjellerup, K., 187
Gleidtentiletoi, *44 oeq,
Goethe, 78, 8q, in, 135, 141
“ Gr unde. Kwialr,” $0
(Irove, 30
Guimardi, G tube,I,I a, O5 fieq., I! A, 114
Iliyiln, JoMfpti, 8, IJ, 14, x6,30,35,85,
, «37» *5*
Heine, II., 38, iHt)
I loffmetoler (publkher), 51, 85
I Itimmd, 53
II undike, %o
JI llndel, 185
Iken, Dr, von, 90
INDKX
{el/ini'*, Klup, 1 (0
jteiepb H, Kmpf'no, f •;
Kaltodier, 44, t6t
Kant, Iniirtanuel, 1 »;f»
Replrvh'M, Babel I e de, aH netp
ami Connies, 84
Kindiy, < Viml, 1 |q
Ktal I (b elikl J, I* <q
h f ellt/ei, H*, 00
Rnunplnd/,, qf
ben/,, 4 b 04, 84, i *• r , 10H
Udmowfiky, Prune Carl, <7, 4a, 44 *w|.,
Om, tMOwerp, 144
Mmb/,, 146 tuoj.
bit lilernleim, lb bn e;in, Oa
binke (VelikiJ, fOf
laMt, Am, 77 i
bolikowil/, Ibim et t P# 'ietp
Min o, i ifi
Malltiui, 'I brieta, i p;
IVbnjnlteim bdjfrol, 'lilt', M fjetp, *V«, 1*1,
n\
Marx, A. II,, K, >;u » Ht
M. ndfn'ilbtn, Idtt hit I*tedetnlf, 1*o t V q/
Mendekitohu, lb| </./., t 4q 1 On loop, tOfJ,
r;q
Mit lud Aiqybq t f i
(VI/it Hi up,, 10/t
Mo/atl, beopitbl, 0
- w. A,, 0, At, lb Vb * r/» M6
M(db*r, lb, W« <q- >
Kike, qfi
Napel, Wibbubl, t;/, H |, tyj
N. lpeb (puli)ifibet j, 80
Napoleoft lltuMp.ule, 4 |, ^*0
Neale (pianifil)9 Ha
Neefe, < b f b, 0 wetj,, qq U
Nelnoti, Afbuiial, t;q
Nieniwnn, W., t;
Mold, q*b ^ Vh tbH, <74
Novalk, y<q <84
Odenealdu, Ibnn roo, ,*H
Pafbq I'b, 4q
bnwid, 113
Perides, 43
Ideifl’er, Tobtai, 0
Plato, 4A
 INDEX x99
IMryrl, 2n
Schuppanzigh, 46, 109, 161
I*lntnh h, fp>, ,\f,
Schwewheimcr, W., 40
Priori, K,, i6i Seebald, Amalie, 69
f’thihi Mutikuu, Rmur, 72 Sciflfert, Max, 62
Scume (author), 76
Riumiuownky, Prince, im6
Scyfried, 66, 137
Reger, Max, ryz
kei< It,i6{
Shak«p<»re, 37,89, m, n9) iS3) 157
Shedlock, 16, 05
Reiiuvke, >;(>, ity, ujH, Uicj, 171 Simrock (publisher), 87
Reiki ah, yi.i
SonnenfeU, J. von, 80
Kendmiudl, iu;z Spohr, 20, 22
RiVm;mn, If., 8, 36, 5/*, 64 82, Stainer, S, A., & Co., 162
<D. tieq,, qs\ *uq, u8, 123, 161, 160, Stainer von Felsburg, 161
r/3, 1 Hz, 184, 189 Steibelt, 18
Rlrn, I'4., rz, 2/, 34, 39, 66, 98, ioi, 105, Streicher, Nanette, 154
Hf b riH) r69i *73 Swieten, Baron von, 7
Rurhlit/., I**., 0 tu*q.
Rollunil, Punnuin, 1 z<| Taybcr, 136
Rubimitem, A*, zm, 77 Thayer, A. W., 70, ioi, 125, 126, 161,
Rudolph, Archduke, 130, 131, 136 icq,, , *73
196 iieq., 183 fieq. Tieck, 185

San C kill, Tlumiati, 178 Wackcnroder, 185

Saiul Salmi, CS, 93 Wagner,^ R., 132
Salieri, 16 Waldstein, Count, 9,15, 63, 96 seq.
Schenk, 16 Wegeler, 13, 15, 29, 66, 68, 98, 112,
S< lundler, i8,41,46 nrq., 69 iieq,, 72 {leap, , *35
89, tnc; seq,, 1 ^4, 164, 187 seq. Wewer, Dr,, 106
Sehlrfiingrr (puhlhher), ty8, 186 fieq. Willmann, Marianne, 69
S< huhril Franz, 31, 36, 75, 83, 129, 145, Wolf, Ernst W,, 52
1 6m, 189 WOlfH, 18
Clara, i<;o
Rohm, 3m, $9, 93, 160, 163, 184 Zmeakall, von, 36, 155
 INDEX OF SONATAS
The Bonn Sonatas, 10
TEe First Vienna Sonatas (Opus 2),
*5 .
No. 1 m F minor, 22 seq., 24
No. 2 in A major, 29 seq., 35 *
No. 3 in C major, 25 seq., 29
Opus 7 in E flat major, 28 seq., 36
Opus 10, No. 1 in C minor, 33 seq., 35,
43,44,182
No. 2 in F major, 25, 34 seq.
No. 3 in D major, 36 seq., 43, 171
Opus 13, Sonata in C minor (** Pathe-
tique **), 42 seq., 44, 46, 48
Opus 14, Nos. 1 and 2,46
No. 1 in E major, 46 seq., 145
No. 2 in G major, 25, 46, 124 ^
Opus 22, Sonata in B flat major, 33,
51 seq.
Opus 265 Sonata in A fiat major, 51,
55 seq.,. 104, 134, 184
Opus 27, Nos. 1, 2 and 3, 63,159,165
No. 1 in E fiat major, 51, 63 seq.
No. 2 in C sharp minor, 42, 51, 63,
65 seq., 75 seq., 112, 122, 126, 159
Opus 28, Sonata in D major (“ Pas¬
toral 79
Opus 31, Nos. i, 2 and 3, 84, m
No. 1 in G major, 33, 51, 85 seq., 103
No. 2 in D minor, 51, 87 seq., 92-108
No. 3 in E flat major, 51,91 seq.
Printed by Richard Clay & Sons,
at Bungay, Suffolk, in Great Britain.
Opus 49, Nos. 1 and 2, 94, 129
No. 1 in G minor, 95
No. 2 in G major, 95
Opus 53, Sonata in C major (“ Wald-
stein”), 96, 99 seq., 103, 108,
121
Opus 54, Sonata in F major, 103,
124
Opus 57, Sonata in F minor (“ Appas-
sionata ”), 105, 107 seq., no, in-
119, 121, 122, 124, 167, 188, 189,
19°
Opus 78, Sonata in F sharp major, 120,
121 seq., 133
Opus 79, Sonata in G major, 129
Opus 81, Sonata in E flat major (“ Lebe-
wohl ”), 130 seq., 166, 167, 176
Opus 90, Sonata in E minor, 134, 142,
144 seq., 161, 162
Opus 101, Sonata in A major, 142,
159 seq., 169, 179
Opus 106, Sonata in B flat major, 113,
140, 149, 150, 156, 162, 166, 171,
176, 181
Opus 109, Sonata in E major, 149, 156,
176, 178 seq., 183, 193
Opus no, Sonata in A flat, 120, 149, 176,
181 seq., 192
Opus in, Sonata in C minor, 113, 149,
156, 176, 181, 186
Ltd.,